Mechanical Design Lead

Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company•Simsbury, CT

About The Position

EBAD seeks an engineer for the position of Mechanical Design Lead, reporting to the Mechanical Design Manager. Responsibilities: The Mechanical Design Lead provides front line leadership for a team of designers responsible for product and packaging mechanical design. This role ensures mechanical designs satisfy program design for cost (DFC), design for manufacturability (DFM), performance, and reliability objectives while meeting design best practices. The Mechanical Design Lead is responsible for: Providing clear direction, performance feedback, and career development guidance to direct reports Setting clear goals and expectations aligned with business core values and priorities Conducting regular one-on-ones, tag-ups, and team meetings to foster communication and alignment Fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement Supporting hiring, onboarding, and retention of talent Allocating resources effectively across projects to balance workload and priorities Identify skill gaps and implement training, mentoring, or development plans to strengthen team capability Assigning and reviewing design tasks to meet schedule, technical requirements, and budget constraints Reviewing/approving CAD models, drawings, and BOMs for technical accuracy, DFM, and DFC. Driving DFM by collaborating with operations and supply chain to ensure designs are producible, repeatable, and scalable. Driving DFC by optimizing materials, processes, tolerances, and part counts Ensuring compliance with applicable standards (ASME, MIL-STD, NASA-STD, AS9100, DoD, customer) Partnering with Development and Test Engineering to ensure designs are suitable for harsh environments, including thermal, vibration, shock, vacuum, and radiation exposure. Support formal design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR), with emphasis on manufacturability and cost readiness. Lead or support root cause analysis, corrective actions, and cost-reduction or producibility improvement initiatives.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree (Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering Preferred)
5+ years of mechanical design experience in space, defense, or other high-reliability industries.
2+ years of experience in a technical lead or supervisory role.
Proficiency in CAD tools such as Creo, SolidWorks, or CATIA.
Strong understanding of GD&T, tolerance analysis, materials, and process.
Demonstrated experience implementing DFM and DFC principles in regulated environments
Working knowledge of configuration management, CO/CR processes, and change control
Experience with PLM/PDM systems (e.g., SolidWorks PDM, Windchill, Teamcenter)
Ability to balance performance, reliability, schedule, and cost tradeoffs
Experience working cross functional teams engineering, operations, supply chain, and program management.
Highly detail-oriented with a disciplined approach to compliance and documentation.
Familiarity with ITAR/EAR, AS9100, NASA-STD, MIL-STD, and/or CUI requirements.
Experience working directly with machine shops and contract manufacturers
Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance
Must be a U.S or naturalized Citizen capable of working on U.S. DoD and ITAR restricted products

Responsibilities

Providing clear direction, performance feedback, and career development guidance to direct reports
Setting clear goals and expectations aligned with business core values and priorities
Conducting regular one-on-ones, tag-ups, and team meetings to foster communication and alignment
Fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement
Supporting hiring, onboarding, and retention of talent
Allocating resources effectively across projects to balance workload and priorities
Identify skill gaps and implement training, mentoring, or development plans to strengthen team capability
Assigning and reviewing design tasks to meet schedule, technical requirements, and budget constraints
Reviewing/approving CAD models, drawings, and BOMs for technical accuracy, DFM, and DFC.
Driving DFM by collaborating with operations and supply chain to ensure designs are producible, repeatable, and scalable.
Driving DFC by optimizing materials, processes, tolerances, and part counts
Ensuring compliance with applicable standards (ASME, MIL-STD, NASA-STD, AS9100, DoD, customer)
Partnering with Development and Test Engineering to ensure designs are suitable for harsh environments, including thermal, vibration, shock, vacuum, and radiation exposure.
Support formal design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR), with emphasis on manufacturability and cost readiness.
Lead or support root cause analysis, corrective actions, and cost-reduction or producibility improvement initiatives.