Senior Mechanical Systems Engineer | Product Development
Location: Onsite in Norwalk CT
About the Company:
Vibrant Building Technologies is at the forefront of delivering innovative solutions in the smart home industry. We are a young but rapidly growing startup developing high-tech physical products and working towards our first product launch. Currently, our engineering team is remote and distributed, but we are now establishing an onsite team at our Connecticut headquarters to lead the prototyping, assembly, and testing of our physical hardware, and to build out our manufacturing and test facilities.
Vibrant is developing a suite of home automation products focused on improving the health and wellbeing of our users. Our first product is a centralized home air purification system that installs in line with existing HVAC ductwork and combines high-grade filtration with energy efficient ventilation to remove particulates, pollutant gases, and stale air. The system is fully automated via an extensive suite of air quality sensors, cloud-based data collection, and machine learning driven performance optimization.
Internally, Vibrant is a fast-paced, dynamic and supportive work environment. As a startup, we all wear many hats, and are expected to put in the extra effort to meet ambitious targets. Our approach is to move fast, push hard, and have fun doing it.
Job Description:
We are seeking a full-time Mechanical Engineer and/or Industrial Designer for our onsite engineering team to lead all mechanical aspects of our product development and industrial design elements necessary to bring our products to market. For this role, we are seeking a highly skilled and dedicated person with demonstrated experience in product development of complex physical products and well-versed in design and process development for manufacturing at scale.
This role requires someone capable of creative, thoughtful design, a keen understanding of the impacts of design choices on cost, complexity, and supply chains, and hands-on experience at prototype assembly are required. Additionally, strong leadership and communication skills are required to collaborate effectively with our core technical team, and eventually to grow and lead a mechanical engineering team as we continue to expand.
Responsibilities
- End-to-end product development from research and early concept exploration to product execution and launch; be an active participant and driving force in complete product development cycle
- Ability and willingness to fully own and lead the mechanical/industrial design of the products, sourcing of materials, physical assembly of prototypes, and transition to volume manufacturing and independently lead complete design projects of high complexity
- Contribute to defining and advancing Vibrant’s product design language and visual brand identity
- Development of detailed BOMs and assembly instructions for manufacturing
- Actively demonstrate design & innovation thought leadership to adjacent teams
- Work with outside suppliers to enable design success and address technical issues in the development process
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering or Industrial Design
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in mechanical or industrial engineering for new product development
- Experience in fabrication/assembly process design and optimization
- SolidWorks experience in a product development or manufacturing environment
- Ability to create detailed part and assembly drawings for production that reflect real world manufacturing steps
- Solid understanding and experience with DFMA (Design for Manufacturing & Assembly)
- Fluent with numerous manufacturing methods: Injection Molding, Sheet Metal Fabrication, Die Cutting
- 3D data management experience (PDM or similar)
- Ability to work full-time onsite at our facilities in Fairfield County, CT
Preferred Skills
- Innovative and creative thinking capabilities; always ready to bring new solutions to the table.
- Excellent communication and teamwork skills.
- Ability to work independently with minimal supervision
Bonus Skills
- Expertise in SolidWorks Sheet Metal and Surface modeling
- Experience working with HVAC components and systems
- Experience with PLM and MRP tools and methods for BOM/inventory management and supply chain optimization
What We Offer:
- Competitive pay and benefits
- Long-term opportunity with potential for leadership roles as a key early member of the technical team
- Remote work possible during initial trial period. Transition to regular employment on-site after trial period
- Opportunity to work on innovative projects and cutting-edge technologies in a high-growth hard tech startup
- A dynamic and supportive work environment