Sustaining Structural Engineer

Description

SCOPE and PURPOSE

Within the organization, within the GEFCO product line and for other projects based on company needs and as instructed by management, owns the technical health, reliability, and lifecycle performance of released products. This role is the bridge between field reality and product evolution, ensuring that customer issues, manufacturing feedback, and operational data are translated into meaningful engineering and product improvements. The position combines hands-on mechanical and structural design with working knowledge of the hydraulic and electrical control systems used on GEFCO drilling equipment.

We are looking for a Sustaining Mechanical engineer for our Conroe, TX location. This position would report to the Director of Engineering and Product Management. 

RESPONSIBILITIES

Product Ownership and Issue Resolution

• Own engineering support for released products across their full lifecycle, maintaining technical integrity, reliability, and safety from release through end of life.
• Evaluate, triage, and resolve field, customer, and manufacturing issues; determine root cause and define corrective action in design, process, or documentation.
• Serve as a rapid-response technical resource for Field Service, customers, dealers, and the production floor, balancing customer urgency against technical risk, cost, and long-term product integrity.
• Determine when an issue can be closed locally and when it must be escalated into the formal engineering or product change process.

Design, Structural Analysis, and Validation

• Design and redesign structural and mechanical assemblies — weldments, frames, subframes, masts, decks, guarding, and machined components — for strength, durability, manufacturability, and serviceability.
• Continuously developing and improving the products within the portfolio and integrating new developments from the R&D projects into the sustained portfolio. 
• Create and revise 3D models, assemblies, and detailed drawings to company drafting, tolerancing, and welding standards.
• Define and perform testing to verify that design requirements are met, and document results to support product release and change approval.
• Recommend material substitutions and design alternatives in coordination with the engineering team and Supply Chain, weighing performance, cost, lead time, and availability.

Change Management and Configuration Control

• Initiate, own, and drive ECRs/ECOs arising from sustaining issues, from initiation through implementation and closure.
• Ensure changes are properly analyzed, documented, and communicated, and are reflected in drawings, bills of material, service literature, and work instructions.
• Maintain configuration integrity across released products and product families, including change effectivity, interchangeability, and retrofit or service-kit strategy.
• Recommend product holds, releases, or field mitigations based on technical risk.

Reliability and Continuous Improvement

• Identify systemic issues across platforms and product families using warranty, failure, and field data.
• Drive reliability improvements and support cost-reduction initiatives, coordinating rollout of design changes with R&D, Supply Chain, and Production.
• Recommend design, material, or process improvements to Product and Engineering leadership.
• Capture lessons learned from field and manufacturing issues and feed actionable insights back into new product development, design standards, documentation, and training to prevent repeat issues.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Act as the primary technical interface between Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, and Field Service.
• Lead cross-functional investigations, corrective action efforts, and high-impact, time-sensitive projects that cut across teams.
• Prioritize sustaining work independently based on business impact and risk.
• Escalate issues to the Director of Engineering and Product Management as appropriate, after engaging design engineering directly.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

1. Education and Training – Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, or as deemed sufficient by management.
2. Experience – 5+ years of mechanical design and/or sustaining engineering experience in heavy equipment, industrial machinery, or capital equipment manufacturing, or as deemed sufficient by management. Experience with drilling equipment and hands-on field exposure strongly preferred.
3. Technical Requirements – Strong mechanical design background with demonstrated strength in structural design: weldments and structural steel, load path and stress analysis, fatigue, and welded joint design (familiarity with AWS D1.1 preferred). Working knowledge of hydraulic systems and of electrical and controls engineering. Solid knowledge of manufacturing methods and procedures (welding, machining, fabrication, and assembly), manufacturing quality, and product development. Strong math and analytical background, including GD&T. Strong written and verbal communication skills. Good organizational and task-tracking skills, with the ability to manage priorities across multiple assignments.
4. Software – Proficiency in CAD design software required: SOLIDWORKS and AutoCAD. FEA capability (SOLIDWORKS Simulation or equivalent). Experience with PDM/PLM and ERP systems preferred.
5. Physical Requirements – Must be able to lift up to 50 lbs, stand, sit, kneel, crawl, see, read, hear, have the physical and mental ability to travel independently and the physical and mental ability to comply with customary workshop, office, and job site work environments, safety requirements and other customary regulations and requirements in these environments. Travel to manufacturing, customer, and field locations as required.

Benefits:

• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Health savings account
• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Referral program