Senior Sustaining Engineer

Kymeta•Woodinville, WA

3d•$150,000 - $180,000

About The Position

Kymeta is seeking a Senior Sustaining Engineer with a strong mechanical engineering background to lead cross functional sustaining programs for products in production. This role is responsible for owning product changes from problem definition and technical evaluation through design release, validation, production implementation, and closure. The ideal candidate is a hands-on mechanical engineer and cross-functional technical leader who can independently resolve product and manufacturing issues, coordinate derivative and continuous-improvement efforts, and ensure changes are accurately controlled through product lifecycle management (PLM) and engineering change processes. This role partners closely with Design Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Test Engineering, Service, and suppliers to improve product quality, reliability, manufacturability, cost, and continuity of supply.

Requirements

7+ years of mechanical design, sustaining engineering, manufacturing engineering, or product engineering experience in aerospace, telecommunications, electronics, defense, or another complex hardware environment.
Demonstrated experience leading sustaining or continuous-improvement programs for electromechanical products already in production.
Strong mechanical design capability, including proficiency with 3D CAD (Solidworks preferred), engineering drawings, GD&T, tolerance stack-up, material selection, and design documentation.
Hands-on experience diagnosing and resolving mechanical, electromechanical, manufacturing, supplier, or field-performance issues.
Working knowledge of PLM systems and formal configuration and change-control processes, including ECRs, ECOs, BOMs, revisions, effectivity, and document release.
Experience implementing engineering changes in manufacturing, including cut-in planning, inventory disposition, supplier coordination, tooling and documentation updates, training, build support, and effectiveness verification.
Ability to lead cross-functional teams, establish ownership, manage dependencies, communicate risk, and drive issues to closure.
Ability to balance technical rigor, production urgency, cost, schedule, and product risk when making sustaining decisions.
Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Experience sustaining phased-array antennas, SATCOM products, RF assemblies, aerospace electronics, or other high-reliability electromechanical systems.
Experience with configuration management, product variants, derivative-product releases, and end-of-life or obsolescence-driven redesigns.
Experience developing verification plans and using statistical methods, tolerance analysis, or Design of Experiments (DOE) to understand interactions between mechanical design, assembly variation, and product performance.
Familiarity with ERP, MES, quality-management, and issue-tracking systems used alongside PLM.

Responsibilities

Lead cross-functional sustaining engineering programs for released products, including issue prioritization, technical planning, risk management, execution, and stakeholder communication.
Own mechanical sustaining activities from root-cause investigation through design update, verification, release, and manufacturing implementation.
Develop and release mechanical designs, drawings, specifications, bills of material, and supporting technical documentation with limited oversight.
Drive engineering change requests and engineering change orders through review, approval, release, implementation, and effectiveness verification.
Lead cross-functional change-impact assessments covering form, fit, function, interchangeability, regulatory requirements, inventory, suppliers, tooling, work instructions, inspection, test, service, cost, and schedule.
Plan and coordinate production cut-in of approved changes, including material disposition, supplier readiness, tooling updates, work-instruction revisions, technician training, first-build support, and validation of implementation.
Apply mechanical engineering fundamentals, GD&T, tolerance analysis, material selection, fastener design, sealing, thermal management, and electromechanical packaging to sustaining problems.
Develop verification and validation plans that demonstrate changes meet technical requirements without creating unintended product or process risk.
Coordinate with suppliers and contract manufacturers to assess feasibility, implement changes, resolve technical issues, and maintain production continuity.
Use production, quality, test, and field data to identify recurring issues and prioritize product and process improvements.
Maintain clear program status, decision records, action tracking, and change documentation for technical and business stakeholders.