Hydraulic Engineer (Top in Class Manufacturing Facility)!!!

Job Description

Job Description

Hydraulic Engineer – Advanced Systems & Manufacturing Company Overview

Our manufacturing facility represents the gold standard in heavy-industry engineering, operational excellence, and precision manufacturing. Equipped with state-of-the-art automation, high-capacity forge units, modern casting plants, and an advanced captive heat treat infrastructure, we supply critical components to aerospace, defense, energy, infrastructure, and heavy machinery markets globally.

We are searching for an experienced, highly detail-oriented Full-Time Hydraulic Engineer to join our elite plant operations team. This role is pivotal in maintaining, advancing, and designing critical hydraulic actuators, power units, complex closed-loop manifolds, and automated continuous heat treat systems. If you thrive in a high-consequence, heavy industrial environment where precision fluid power and metallurgy intersect, this position is designed for you.

Position Overview & Objective

As our Hydraulic Engineer, you will serve as the premier subject matter expert (SME) for all high-pressure fluid power, fluid conveyance, electro-hydraulic systems, and specialized heat treat hydraulic mechanics across the facility. You will design, model, simulate, and commission heavy hydraulic circuits while working directly with process metallurgy, controls, and maintenance departments.

Your primary goal will be to design resilient hydraulic systems that withstand intense thermal cycles, severe pressure spikes, and continuous operational strain without losing micron-level accuracy. You will lead schematic development from scratch, specify specialized components, optimize quench-press hydraulics, and modernize existing infrastructure to drive world-class plant reliability.

Detailed Roles and Core Responsibilities1. Advanced Hydraulic Systems Design & Architecture

• Design custom high-pressure industrial hydraulic systems, including Hydraulic Power Units (HPUs), custom valve manifolds, directional control blocks, proportional and servo valve arrays, accumulators, and cylinder assemblies.
• Perform rigorous engineering calculations for fluid dynamics, flow velocity, Reynolds numbers, pressure drop, thermal expansion, system heat dissipation, pipe stress, and pump displacements.
• Select optimal pumps (variable displacement piston, vane, gear), motors, high-pressure filtration systems, coolers, fluid reservoirs, and precision instrumentation (LVDTs, pressure transducers, flowmeters).
• Design electro-hydraulic circuits operating seamlessly with PLCs and automation platforms to support tight-tolerance positioning, continuous motion control, and high-force applications.

2. Heat Treat Facility & Thermal Processing Systems Integration

• Oversee, design, and optimize hydraulic subsystems embedded within industrial heat treat environments, including continuous roller hearth furnaces, batch drop-bottom furnaces, quench presses, car-bottom systems, and automated load/unload transfer mechanisms.
• Engineer fluid power systems that operate reliably in ambient and radiated temperatures up to 2,000&degree;F (1,100&degree;C), applying specialized high-temperature seal chemistries (FFKM, Viton, PTFE), fire-resistant hydraulic fluids (water-glycol HFC, synthetic polyol esters HFD-U), and thermal shielding.
• Develop fast-acting hydraulic quench actuation circuits capable of moving structural parts into quench mediums within sub-second reaction windows to achieve precise metallurgical grain structures and hardness profiles.
• Perform failure analysis on hydraulic components exposed to extreme thermal cycling, decarburization environments, and quench oil contamination; modify system geometries and filtration regimes to eradicate recurring failures.

3. Hydraulic Schematics, Documentation, & Drafting

• Author, review, and maintain standardized, complex hydraulic schematics in compliance with ISO 1219 and ANSI/NFPA standards using CAD packages (AutoCAD Fluid Power, SolidWorks Electrical/Routing, or specialized fluid drafting software).
• Generate comprehensive Engineering Design Packages (EDPs), encompassing Bills of Materials (BOM), functional sequence diagrams, valve sequencing logic, pressure setting schedules, test procedures, and commissioning manuals.
• Audit, update, and systematically digitize legacy hydraulic schematics across the entire manufacturing plant to reflect as-built configurations, safety retrofits, and engineering change notices (ECNs).

4. Commissioning, Diagnostics, & Continuous Improvement

• Lead on-site physical commissioning, pressure tuning, proportional loop calibration, fluid cleanliness flushing procedures, and safety functional testing of newly fabricated or upgraded machinery.
• Serve as Tier-3 root-cause escalation support for plant breakdowns, analyzing fluid cavitation, pressure surges, contamination ingress, hydraulic water-hammer phenomena, and mechanical fatigue.
• Drive preventative and predictive maintenance strategies (PdM) utilizing oil condition sensors, inline particulate counters, vibration logging on main drive pumps, and thermal imaging across manifold assemblies.

Required Qualifications & Technical Skills

• Education: Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME), Fluid Power Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related engineering discipline. Master’s degree is an asset.
• Hydraulic Engineering Experience: Minimum of 5–8+ years of dedicated fluid power engineering experience within a heavy industrial manufacturing, forging, foundry, steel mill, or automated production facility.
• Schematic Mastery: Expert-level capability to draft, read, troubleshoot, and optimize complex industrial hydraulic schematics according to ISO/NFPA standards.
• Heat Treat & Thermal Experience: Direct working knowledge of hydraulic mechanisms operating in high-temperature environments (furnace doors, quench plungers, transfer cars, manipulators) and familiarity with fire-resistant fluids (HFC/HFD).
• CAD & Simulation Proficiency: Proficient in 3D CAD modeling (SolidWorks, Inventor, or Creo) and 2D hydraulic schematic generation. Experience using hydraulic simulation packages (Automation Studio, Amesim, or MATLAB/Simulink) is highly valued.
• Fluid Power Certification: Certified Fluid Power Hydraulic Specialist (CFPHS) or Certified Fluid Power Engineer (CFPE) through the International Fluid Power Society (IFPS) is preferred.
• Safety & Compliance: Deep understanding of industrial safety protocols including Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) of stored energy systems, accumulator discharge circuits, and safety-monitored valves (ISO 13849-1 Performance Levels).

What We Offer

• Highly competitive base salary commensurate with experience, supplemented by an annual performance bonus.
• Comprehensive healthcare coverage including top-tier medical, dental, and vision insurance packages for employees and dependents.
• 401(k) retirement plan featuring an immediate, generous dollar-for-dollar company match.
• Relocation assistance package available for qualified candidates outside the local area.
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO), standard company holidays, and dedicated paid personal development days.
• Tuition reimbursement and ongoing funding for professional engineering licensure (PE), fluid power certifications, and specialized technical training.

Our company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.