Synapse is seeking an outstanding senior mechanical engineering technical lead to join our community!

Our collaborative, cross-discipline team is made up of dynamic engineers, manufacturing experts, and project and business operations leaders. We work with the world’s leading companies to develop cutting-edge products, stretching the boundary of possibility in technology application and manufacturing processes to delight users and deliver business results.

Synapse offers competitive salaries and great benefits, including flexible work schedules; 20 paid personal days a year; paid parental leave; 401(k); outstanding medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents; and an open, collaborative office environment. Your passion, flexibility, and commitment to lifelong learning will be greeted with a unique company culture that emphasizes community and fun as integral components of delivering world-class products.

Please read on for more information about your next adventure!

DESCRIPTION

As a Synapse product developer, you will contribute individually or collaboratively in cross-discipline teams to conceptualize, architect and develop new products for our clients. You should expect to iteratively analyze, design, prototype and test the product and its components, and then support the establishment of product manufacturing. As challenges and changes emerge through each project, you will adapt and identify solutions to deliver a great customer experience. You will benefit from the knowledge and best practices shared by your fellow Synapsters, and will be invited to share your knowledge and lessons learned in turn.

As a senior mechanical engineering technical lead, you will head the ME effort for each of your projects, and be responsible for the quality of the mechanical analysis, design, and deliverables. You will be the team’s primary ME point of contact to the client, and expected to deliver valuable product development leadership and insight in concert with your program manager and fellow discipline technical leads. An egoless approach to teamwork is essential.

The technical lead element of your job will include leadership to set the example for your project’s ME team in terms of client interaction and technical execution. You will contribute to systems engineering activities to understand stakeholder needs and constraints, develop technical requirements, assess technical feasibility and tradeoffs, and identify technical risks and mitigations. You will work closely with the other discipline technical leads to ensure successful product integration, develop verification plans, and identify opportunities for Synapse to assist the client with product validation. You will develop and prioritize tasks for the ME’s on your team, orchestrate technical reviews of your team’s work, and lead them to execute against project budget and schedule.

The senior mechanical engineer element of your job will include direct participation in the design process to solve tough product challenges from conceptualization through manufacturing bringup. You will apply a range of ideation approaches to identify product architecture concepts, and iteratively assess and refine those concepts through simulation and physical experimentation. You’ll contribute to mechanical engineering analysis, mechanical design and documentation, materials and manufacturing process selection, application of concurrent engineering principles, and collaboration with suppliers and manufacturing partners.

Synapse’s mechanical engineering team has solved difficult problems for many complex consumer and industrial products with demanding performance requirements. We routinely develop products that involve robust packaging for harsh environments, high-touch user interface elements, electronics cooling and thermal management, custom antenna integration, optomechanical design and integration, custom drives and mechanisms, and mixed thermal and fluid transport, all within significant size, aesthetic, cost, and power constraints. We are continually targeting challenging products in a range of markets and hope you’ll come join us to develop and deliver them.

EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION

• Bachelor or advanced degree in mechanical engineering, or equivalent experience
• Minimum 8 years of product design and development experience, including design for manufacturing and assembly
• Advanced proficiency working on highly-concurrent, collaborative, cross-discipline programs
• Advanced communication skills and a desire to work in small and large cross-discipline teams
• Advanced proficiency leading small teams of engineers to deliver high-quality results within project budget and schedule constraints
• Intermediate proficiency applying principles of machine design & mechatronics and/or robust optomechanical integration in complex products and systems
• Intermediate to advanced proficiency in design of injection molded components, PCBA interfaces and mechanical control definitions, machined components, and stamped and formed sheet metal parts
• Intermediate to advanced proficiency with a range of rapid prototyping techniques and understanding of their strengths and limitations
• Intermediate to advanced proficiency with deliberate materials assessment and selection for a wide range of manufacturing processes and applications
• High degree of comfort with ambiguity in early-phase requirements development and feasibility assessment
• Intermediate to advanced proficiency at rapidly deciphering requirements from use cases and similar inputs, and identifying and prioritizing conflicting requirements and constraints
• Intermediate proficiency with deliberate experimental planning for concept assessment and robust design
• Intermediate to advanced proficiency with development of verification test plans and procedures
• Advanced proficiency with 3D CAD (SolidWorks, Creo or Onshape)
• Intermediate to advanced proficiency translating industrial design surfaces into manufacturable designs
• Intermediate proficiency with computer-aided simulation tools (e.g., FEA, CFD) and numerical modeling software tools
• A strong desire to share your knowledge, improve skills, and improve processes in collaboration with your fellow Synapsters

PORTFOLIO

THIS IS REQUIRED of all mechanical engineering applicants. Your application will not be considered without a portfolio. Please upload or link your portfolio in the application section labeled ‘Portfolio Link’.

A portfolio should exemplify your skills, show projects you have worked on and any other type of work you’ve done in the mechanical engineering and product development fields. It should be a compelling presentation describing your experience as it relates to the job qualifications.