Product Design Engineer

Location: Northwest Alabama | Onsite | Relocation Assistance Available

Are you a mechanical engineer who loves taking an idea from concept to a finished, working product? Do you enjoy solving real-world engineering challenges, developing innovative designs, and seeing your work come to life through prototyping, testing, and manufacturing?

We're partnering with an established, financially strong manufacturer to identify a Product Design Engineer who wants to make a meaningful impact on the products the company develops and produces.

This opportunity offers something increasingly difficult to find: the chance to join a small, collaborative engineering team where your ideas matter, your responsibilities extend beyond a narrow specialty, and you can see the direct results of your work.

We're open to engineers at different stages of their careers. Whether you're an experienced product design engineer or a recent Mechanical Engineering graduate with strong hands-on design experience, we'd welcome the opportunity to learn more about your background.

What You'll Be Doing

• Design and develop new mechanical products, components, and assemblies, taking projects from initial concepts through detailed engineering, prototyping, testing, and production.
• Create and modify 3D CAD models, assemblies, engineering drawings, and supporting design documentation.
• Perform engineering calculations and evaluate structural integrity, including stress, strain, material strength, fatigue, and load-bearing performance.
• Apply mechanical design principles to steel and aluminum structures, fabricated components, and welded assemblies.
• Use engineering analysis, including finite element analysis (FEA), to evaluate designs, identify potential weaknesses, and improve performance.
• Collaborate with manufacturing teams to ensure designs are practical, cost-effective, manufacturable, and reliable.
• Participate in prototype development, physical testing, validation, and field evaluations.
• Investigate product performance issues and develop design improvements addressing durability, functionality, manufacturability, and cost.
• Work with suppliers, production personnel, and other engineering team members to resolve technical challenges and support product development.
• Prepare and maintain engineering documentation, drawings, bills of materials, and design changes.
• Contribute creative ideas and practical engineering solutions to both new product development and continuous improvement initiatives.

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related engineering discipline.
• Demonstrated mechanical product design experience, whether gained professionally, through internships, substantial engineering projects, or a combination of these.
• Strong understanding of mechanical design fundamentals, including statics, dynamics, strength of materials, and structural analysis.
• Hands-on experience using 3D CAD software to develop mechanical components and assemblies. Siemens NX is preferred; experience with CATIA, Creo, SolidWorks, or comparable systems will also be considered.
• Familiarity with engineering drawings, tolerances, materials, and manufacturing processes.
• Exposure to FEA, stress analysis, structural calculations, or design validation.
• Ability to explain specific products or components you've designed, the engineering decisions involved, and how you evaluated or validated your work.
• Strong problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Interest in working closely with manufacturing and seeing designs progress from engineering concepts to physical products.

Experience That Would Be Especially Valuable

• Mechanical or structural product development involving heavy equipment, trailers, transportation equipment, automotive products, agricultural equipment, or industrial machinery.
• Design of load-bearing structures, welded assemblies, steel or aluminum components, or fabricated metal products.
• Experience with Siemens NX, CATIA, ANSYS, or other structural analysis tools.
• Knowledge of welding processes, including MIG and spot welding.
• Experience with prototype testing, fatigue analysis, failure investigation, or product validation.
• Familiarity with product lifecycle management tools, including Teamcenter.
• Lean manufacturing or Six Sigma exposure.

For recent graduates: Strong senior design projects, engineering competitions, internships, or independently developed mechanical products can be particularly relevant. We're interested in understanding what you actually designed, the engineering principles you applied, and how you tested or validated the results.

Why This Opportunity?

Real product development. Spend a significant portion of your time developing new products and improving existing designs, rather than focusing primarily on day-to-day production support.

Small team, broad exposure. Join a close-knit engineering group where you'll gain visibility into the entire product development process and work directly with manufacturing, testing, and other business functions.

Opportunity to influence design. Your engineering ideas and problem-solving skills can have a direct impact on product performance, durability, and manufacturability.

Professional growth. Develop your technical expertise through meaningful projects, experienced colleagues, and exposure to multiple aspects of mechanical and structural product engineering.

Stability and resources. Become part of an established manufacturing organization backed by a large, financially strong parent company.

Competitive benefits and relocation support. The company offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical coverage, retirement benefits, wellness programs, and relocation assistance for qualified candidates.

Location

This is a fully onsite position in a small community in northwest Alabama, approximately 90 minutes from Birmingham. Relocation assistance is available for qualified candidates.

If you're passionate about mechanical design and want to see your engineering work make a tangible difference, we'd love to hear from you.

At Insight Recruitment, we specialize in connecting top professionals in ERP, Information Technology (IT), Sales & Marketing, and Executive leadership with companies that need their skills most.

For over 25 years, we’ve been known as a boutique executive search firm that goes beyond “post and pray” recruiting. Instead, we take a hands-on, personalized approach directly engaging with passive talent to deliver the right candidates, not just the most available ones.

With a track record of long-term placements and 99% of roles filled within the first 3–5 candidates presented/interviewed, Insight Recruitment has become the trusted partner for organizations across the Midwest and nationwide looking for quality hires who stay and make an impact.