INTRODUCTION

The Mechanical Design Engineer is a key member of a cross-disciplinary team driving the design, development and execution of the actuation systems program for the next generation of military and commercial aircraft. The role's primary focus will be the design and development of rotary actuation products in the Civil and Military Defense industries. The Mechanical Design Engineer will apply principles and techniques of mechanical engineering to ensure design preparation is in accordance with applicable specifications, customer requirements and standard work practices; interfaces with various functional groups to coordinate conceptual, preliminary, and detailed unit design, engineering documentation releases, development testing, qualification testing, and entry into service.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Contribute to the design effort for mechanical actuation products. These designs will be to Aerospace standard including but not limited to DO-160.
• Innovates to improve technical solutions and/or processes while working with limited oversight.
• Ability to be mentored by experienced mechanical engineering colleagues.
• Customer or supplier focal throughout for product development and support activities.
• Evaluate and analyze mechanical hardware to determine relevancy and cost effectiveness for incorporation into current and future products.
• Coordinate/Collaborate across the Actuation System Business Units to identify opportunities for commonization and optimization of product and process.
• Generate design documentation including requirements specifications, design details, test procedures and reports.
• Support the selection and coordination of product vendors throughout the entire product lifecycle to include vendor qualification, issue resolution, and product acceptance.
• Manage, execute, document, and present the results of Root Cause Corrective Action investigations crossing functional boundaries.
• Prepare and review the drawings and layouts for production parts and test equipment.
• Evaluate concepts by creating analytical models and provide direction on which concept will meet component and or system level performance.
• Provide analysis support throughout the development of a product/concept.
• Analyze data and performance of designs, recommend actions to create optimized design.
• Interact cross-functionally with a wide variety of people and teams. Work closely with engineers to identify opportunities for design improvements.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering.
• 2 years of previous relevant experience or an advanced degree in mechanical engineering or aerospace engineering.
• Previous Actuation or gearbox design experience preferred.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Must be a self-directed individual requiring minimal supervision.
• Ability to apply advanced mathematical concepts.
• NX software experience.
• Microsoft Office Suite and MATLAB experience.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.

Leadership Skills / Management Skills / Personal Skills

• Inductive reasoning.
• Integrity.
• Judgement and problem solving.
• Leadership.
• Communication, both verbally and written and through active listening and reading comprehension.
• Customer Oriented.
• Adaptable and flexible.
• Ability to summarize complex information.
• A deep understanding of root cause corrective action.
• Knowledge of change control management.
• Analytical thinking.
• Dependability.
• Change agent.
• Planning, organization and prioritizing.

TRAVEL SPECIFICITY

Potential travel between Rockford Illinois and other locations up to 15%.

COMPANY INFORMATION

Safran is an international high-technology group, operating in the aviation (propulsion, equipment and interiors), defense and space markets. Its core purpose is to contribute to a safer, more sustainable world, where air transport is more environmentally friendly, comfortable and accessible. Safran has a global presence, with 100,000 employees and sales of 27.3 billion euros in 2024, and holds, alone or in partnership, world or regional leadership positions in its core markets.

Safran is in the 2nd place in the aerospace and defense industry in TIME magazine's "World's best companies 2024" ranking.

Safran Electronics & Defense offers its customers onboard intelligence solutions allowing them to understand the environment, reduce mental load and guarantee a trajectory, even in critical situations, in all environments: on land, at sea, in the sky or space. The company harnesses the expertise of its 13,000 employees towards these three functions: observe, decide and guide, for the civil and military markets.

LOCATION

Location: Rockford, Illinois, United States

Contract type: Permanent
Contract duration: Full-time
Required degree: Bachelor's Degree
Required experience: First experience
Professional status: Employees / Staff
Salary range: $80,000 - $110,000
ITAR: ITAR Controlled position

2026-179778