Senior Hydraulic Engineer - San Antonio, Texas

JCB North America•San Antonio, TX

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Hydraulic Engineer – JCB Access will serve as the technical authority for hydraulic system design, integration, analysis, and validation across the entire Aerial Work Platform (AWP) product range. This role ensures JCB Access machines deliver best-in-class performance, controllability, robustness, and compliance with global safety and regulatory standards. The position will be based at the JCB World Headquarters in Rocester, UK, until Q1 2027, working closely with global cross-functional engineering teams. In Q1 2027, the role will transition permanently to the new JCB San Antonio manufacturing facility, supporting the expansion of Access engineering capability in North America. This engineer will lead hydraulic architecture creation, circuit design, simulation, component selection, system performance evaluation, and validation planning throughout the full product lifecycle.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Fluid Power Engineering, or related discipline.
Extensive Aerial Work Platform (AWP) hydraulic system design experience is mandatory.
7+ years of hydraulic engineering experience with strong knowledge of fluid power principles, component selection, and system integration.
Experience working with load handling, proportional control, hydraulic manifolds, and machine functional safety.
Knowledge of global AWP regulatory standards (ANSI, CSA, CE, ISO).
Strong analytical capability with understanding of flow, pressure, thermal behaviour, and dynamic system response.
Experience developing hydraulic systems for boom or scissor lifts.
Background in prototype development, hydraulic commissioning, and system tuning.
Knowledge of DFM/DFA, hydraulic manufacturing processes, and cost optimisations.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Automation Studio for hydraulic modelling and simulation is a strong asset.
Experience with NX and Teamcenter.
Professional Engineer (PE) designation.

Responsibilities

Lead the design, development, and optimisation of hydraulic circuits for boom lifts, scissor lifts, chassis functions, and auxiliary systems.
Define hydraulic architectures that meet performance, safety, efficiency, and cost targets.
Select appropriate hydraulic components, including pumps, valves, manifolds, cylinders, accumulators, filters, and hosing.
Ensure all designs meet functional safety and AWP-specific stability and control requirements.
Create hydraulic schematics and simulation models to validate flow, pressure, load handling, thermal behaviour, and system response.
Use modelling tools to optimise system performance and guide design decisions.
Validate component and system behaviour through structured test plans, data analysis, and correlation with simulation.
Ensure compliance with ANSI, CSA, CE, ISO, and other global hydraulic and AWP regulatory requirements.
Partner with NPIP engineering teams to ensure hydraulic systems meet new product requirements throughout concept, design, and validation phases.
Support Current Product Engineering by resolving field issues, conducting root-cause analysis, and implementing system improvements.
Work closely with Test & Validation to define hydraulic test requirements and interpret results.
Collaborate with Manufacturing Engineering to optimise hydraulic routing, assembly processes, and production-quality assurance.
Support prototype builds to ensure proper hydraulic system integration and functional performance.
Review hydraulic BOMs, schematics, and commissioning procedures.
Lead on-machine tuning and system calibration activities for new and existing products.
Serve as the senior subject matter expert for hydraulic systems within the Access division.
Mentor engineers in hydraulic theory, analysis techniques, simulation tools, and machine safety principles.
Contribute to engineering standards, design guidelines, simulation models, and continuous improvement initiatives.