Strategic Solutions Architect

Innovation And Concepting Engineer

What if you could turn bold ideas into real-world solutions? Are you an experienced Innovation And Concepting Engineer who thrives at the intersection of creativity and engineering? Do you want to help shape customer ideas into practical, innovative solutions while driving collaboration across the organization?

The Innovation And Concepting Engineer is the technical bridge between customers, sales, engineering, estimating, manufacturing, and executive leadership. The Innovation And Concepting Engineer ensures that technically sound, well-defined, and manufacturable solutions are created, priced, communicated, and supported throughout the sales/innovation lifecycle, while also strengthening internal capability and protecting the company's technical and intellectual assets.

The position can be based at Southworth International Group, Inc. (SIGI) headquarter located in Falmouth, Maine, or remote.

Duties And Responsibilities

• Act as a primary point of contact to
  • Conceptualize and communicate engineered solutions that integrate with our current designs and assemblies, to both external and internal stakeholders in the sales and order execution process
  • Conceptualize and communicate strategic innovation frameworks that push the envelope of our current capabilities and have large scale impact on SIGI globally, to both external and internal stakeholders
  • Present custom-tailored engineered solutions to our customers
  • Troubleshoot assemblies used in the field when needed to understand, communicate, and lead next steps in a sales process, particularly when pursuing next generation equipment opportunities
  • Train new salespeople, manufacturers, and engineers to allow for adequate knowledge transfer between departments and ensure standardization
  • Manage SIGI Global Intellectual Property and serve as the primary liaison between SIGI and our Legal Representatives
• Work directly with customers and/or Sales staff to
  • Conceptualize, create, and develop custom-tailored solutions
  • Lead technical presentations, exploratory discussions, or ideation sessions to aid in capturing the voice of the customer pertaining to particular challenges in the material handling ecosystem
  • Optimize, troubleshoot, and provide guidance on previous applications and Solutions
  • Create documents that fully define application scope (i.e. conformity matrix)
  • Analyze, develop, and discuss machine risk assessments, and work with cross-functional teams to gain consensus on the best path forward
  • Maintain strong intercompany relationships based on trust and transparency
• Work directly with internal team members to
  • Develop and/or review pricing for new custom-tailored solutions, with special consideration given to the quantity of machines being developed or delivered
  • Develop documents that define assembly limitations and appropriate derating methods due to changes in application characteristics and assembly components
  • Enable and lead internal dialogues with engineering, sales, and executive leadership to widen the realm of solutions that SIGI collectively is comfortable working within
  • Assist with continuous improvement testing on legacy designs and legacy fixtures
  • Assist with new product development testing to validate designs and fixtures
• Function as a subject matter expert for
  • Patent related questions, concerns, and idea generation/validity
  • IP related questions, concerns, and idea generation/validity
  • AI development, refinement, and troubleshooting
• Proactively participate in and promote knowledge sharing across the Southworth organization
• Respond to opportunities, projects and customer developments within the global sales and strategic account organization.
• Recognize and communicate potential developments, patterns of need extrapolated from the voice(s) of the customer, and/or threats (competition, regulations etc.)
• Perform other tasks, duties and responsibilities as required by the immediate manager
• Frequent collaboration within Engineering and Manufacturing departments

Qualifications Skills And Experience

• Associate or bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or mechanical engineering technology preferred or military/civilian technical school with 5 years of related experience
• 5+ years of technical engineering experience, preferably in manufacturing
• Solid working knowledge of statics, dynamics, strength of materials, and machine design
• 3+ years of CAD modeling experience (SolidWorks preferred)
• Experience drafting parts and assemblies using industry-standard practices, including GD&T
• Experience using FEA to evaluate design integrity
• Thorough knowledge of hydraulic systems and components, fabricated steel weldments, and electrical systems and components, wiring and hydraulic schematics
• Working understanding of Microsoft 365 Applications, including Microsoft CoPilot
• Exposure to continuous process improvement methodologies, including Lean Six Sigma
• Define application scope through clear technical documentation (e.g., conformity matrix, engineering specification, etc.)
• Experience supporting continuous improvement and new product development testing
• Experience serving as a subject-matter expert and primary point of contact for Patent, Trademark and IP-related questions, concerns, or discussions with legal representatives
• Recognize and communicate competitive, regulatory, and market developments or threats
• Travel Requirements: up to 25% travel to our factories or to customers' sites will be required, with occasional peaks

Personal Characteristics

• Excellent interpersonal skills with proven ability to engage with our dealers, distributors, and end user as well as coworkers daily
• Able to work effectively and accurately against deadlines and time constraints and self-manage daily
• Ability to communicate openly and effectively with a variety of personality types
• Creative problem-solving skills
• Ability to manage and balance time effectively amongst design and process improvement projects
• Accurate, analytical, adaptable, self-confident, written communication, multi-tasking, and relationship building

Competencies

• Technical and Engineering Leadership
• Sales and Customer Enablement
• Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing
• Self-Guided Curiosity and Continuous Development

Base annual salary target: $107K to $118K DOE and opportunity for quarterly cash bonus

We're an Equal Opportunity Employer. You will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability.

We're only hiring those authorized to work in the United States. We do not currently sponsor immigration visas.

SIGI does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms or employment agencies. Any unsolicited resume will become the property of SIGI.