Senior Design Engineer in Superior, WI at Barko Hydraulics LLC

Job Description

The Company

Barko Hydraulics located in Superior, WI, manufactures innovative heavy equipment solutions for the forestry, site prep, and material handling markets. Tough, dependable and powerful since 1963, BARKO’s forestry innovations have become the standard for equipment designs and are the machines of choice among customers. BARKO’s line of forestry equipment includes harvesters, processors, utility loaders, strong-arm grapples, industrial wheeled tractors, and more. For more information, visit BARKO.com.

Barko is located in Superior, WI, Superior is known for its location on Lake Superior, beautiful waterways, big ol’ forests, good people, great food and lots of fun.  Just over the Bridge you will find Duluth, MN an all-seasons city on the tip of Lake Superior, it was voted “Best Town” by Outside Magazine as well as being named one of the Country’s best Coastal Towns.  The lifestyle in the area is known for its year-round outdoor activities, including snowmobile trails, ice fishing, skiing, curling, golfing, rock climbing, hiking, fishing, sailing, and even surfing!!

Barko Hydraulics is an affiliate of The Heico Companies, a family owned business and parent holding company for a diverse portfolio of manufacturing, construction and industrial services businesses.  Since its founding over 30 years ago The Heico Companies has grown from a single business to over 80 separate companies and 10,000 team members.

The Position

The Senior Design Engineer is responsible for the BARKO attachment product line including development and maintenance. This position provides technical direction and oversight for product development with long-term business and organizational impact. The position is responsible for technical scope, cost and schedule management of assigned projects/tasks. S/he plans, schedules, and coordinates efforts of cross-functional staff and is accountable to meet project team performance objectives.

Key Performance Areas

Develop and support heavy equipment attachment design for total life cycle.

• Utilize a passion for heavy equipment to drive innovative new product development and maintenance for various types of heavy equipment attachments.
• Operate in a team environment working closely with other business functions to lead development projects.
• Develop a thorough understanding of relevant markets.
• Identify market opportunities and unmet needs through voice of customer work.

Lead design responsibility for new heavy equipment attachment products.

• Lead cross-functional development team through project scoping, innovation, vehicle concept, component selection, design reviews, release, build, validation, and industry.
• Work with all key stakeholders to develop product specifications, project timing, product cost and project budget targets that ensure successful product launch to meet the organization’s strategic plans.
• Ensure project adherence to BARKO’s phase-gate product development process.
• Responsible for product design, finite element analysis, and release of machine structural fabrications: sheet metal, heavy weldments, and related assemblies.
• Perform engineering calculations to determine the size and strength of components. Solve design problems and check computations contributing to analytical designs.
• Lead design reviews for areas of responsibility.
• Prepare change orders, requisitions, and parts lists.
• Lead assembly of prototype designs.
• Lead testing of prototype machines/components in actual or simulated field conditions including data acquisition and analysis of test data.
• Ensure compliance with industry regulations and standards.
• Utilize engineering tools such as: risk assessments, FMEAs, and 8D problem resolution process to validate the design content.

Lead design responsibility for current attachment products.

• Redesign existing products to enhance functionality or reduce costs.
• Lead data driven investigation, resolution, and timely corrective action implementation related to customer field issues.
• Provide technical support to Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain and Customer Service departments.
• Lead timely resolution of manufacturing related issues to support production goals.

Support new heavy equipment product design efforts, as necessary.

• Perform engineering calculations to determine the size and strength of components. Solve design problems and check computations contributing to analytical designs.
• Primary responsibility will be new product design, finite element analysis, and release of machine structural fabrications: sheet metal, heavy weldments, and related assemblies.
• Utilize engineering tools such as: FMEAs, FEA, 8D problem resolution process, and risk assessments to validate the design content.
• Lead design reviews for areas of responsibility.
• Review and release drawings created in SolidWorks.
• Prepare change orders, requisitions, and parts lists.
• Participate in or lead assembly of prototype designs.
• Participate in or lead testing of prototype machines/components in actual or simulated field conditions including data acquisition and analysis of test data.

Support current heavy equipment product design efforts, as necessary.

• Lead data driven investigation, resolution, and corrective action implementation related to customer field issues.
• Provide technical support to sales, marketing, manufacturing, quality, supply management and customer service organizations.
• Support cost reduction initiatives on current products.
• Lead timely resolution of manufacturing related issues.

Support maintenance and enhancement of engineering technical documentation and tools.

• Lead the structuring, release, and maintenance of the assigned product lines: bills of materials, published technical specifications, and other related documentation.
• Create of bill of materials for customer orders.
• Follow the standards established in the BARKO Engineering Standards Manual, while also developing new engineering standards and revising existing engineering standards.
• Ensure compliance with relevant industry standards and regulations.
• Drive continuous improvement of products and processes.

Qualifications

Experience and Education:

• Experience: 7+ years of demonstrated heavy equipment attachment design engineering experience as well as experience with project management.
• Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical, Agricultural, Electrical or Hydraulic Engineering required.  Master’s Degree preferred.
• Leadership: Ability to engage diverse teams of people, provide clear instructions, and effectively manage the team’s performance.
• Passion: Demonstrate genuine passion about leading people and building relationships.
• Communication: Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal communication.
• Technology:  Strong working knowledge of SolidWorks, Parker IQAN, MS Office and appropriate analytical tools.

Supervisory Responsibility - This position will oversee new product development and current product support for existing product lines and may supervise the activity of Engineers, Designers, Technicians and Drafters.

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work - This is a full-time position. Typical work hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM.  Occasional evening and weekend work may be required as job duties demand.

Travel - This position requires occasional travel, including travel outside the local area and overnight.

Work Environment - The position operates in a professional office environment using standard office equipment such as computers, iPads, phones, copiers and filing cabinets.  The employee is occasionally exposed to fumes or airborne particles and moving mechanical parts.

Physical Requirements - The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by the Project Engineer position to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear.  The employee is frequently required to stand and walk.  The employee is occasionally required to use hands to finger, handle or feel and reach with hands and arms, lift and/or carry up to 25 pounds, balance, bend, stoop or kneel, climb, push/pull and squat, or crouch.