| Location | Gainesville, GA |
| Job Type | Part-time |
The Mechanical Engineer - Sustaining supports Cantrell-Gainco equipment throughout its life through engineer-to-order (ETO) processing, product life-cycle management, and continuous improvement. In this entry-level role, the engineer creates new designs and modifies existing designs, solves problems, and improves products and processes, applying sound engineering practices and principles with safety, quality, and the customer in mind.
Working with guidance from senior engineers and the Engineering Manager, the engineer plans and organizes assigned work, delivers accurate and complete results on time, and partners with manufacturing, quality, supply chain, service, and sales to keep customers’ equipment running well. Success depends as much on how the work is done (thoroughness, responsiveness, tenacity, work ethic, and professionalism) as on technical skill, and scope and independence grow as results are demonstrated.
All job requirements listed are requirements for the core responsibilities of this position. This position may require other activities and duties as assigned by their manager.
How the work gets done matters as much as what is done. These behaviors are as important as technical skill and will be assessed in interviews, performance reviews, and development planning.
Behavior | What it looks like in this role |
Planning & Organization | Breaks assignments into steps, sequences them by priority and the critical path, and sets realistic dates. Keeps a traceable thread from problem statement to hypothesis, test, result, and decision. Maintains version control and consistent naming on drawings, models, test data, and files. |
Execution: Individually and in Teams | Self-directed: starts work without waiting for permission, owns the outcome end to end (not just a piece of the drawing), and finishes what is started. Shares knowledge, hands work off cleanly, and asks for help early. |
Thoroughness & Quality | Checks own work before release: units, load cases, assumptions, revisions, and drawing and BOM accuracy. Asks "what have I missed?" and "what would make this wrong?" before reporting. Sanity-checks results against hand calculations and physical reality, and closes every analysis with a clear conclusion and recommendation. |
Responsiveness | Acknowledges requests promptly, sets clear expectations on turnaround, and meets them. Keeps manufacturing, service, sales, and customers informed, and raises risks and delays early. Balances urgent production issues with planned work without dropping commitments. |
Tenacity | Stays with hard problems. When an approach fails, returns with a new angle instead of repeating the same test. Works through unglamorous validation, edge-case, and documentation work, and through organizational friction (supplier responses, test time, approvals) to finish the job. |
Work Ethic & Accountability | Dependable and self-motivated. Puts in the effort needed to meet commitments, owns mistakes openly, and corrects them without being prompted. Follows through, including on details no one will check. |
Professionalism | Communicates clearly and respectfully in writing and in person. Explains technical reasoning simply to non-engineers. Documents decisions and the rationale behind them. Treats design review as a tool, not a threat. Acts with honesty and integrity, and puts safety first. |
Problem Solving & Systems Thinking | Distinguishes the real problem from the stated problem. Breaks systems into functions and requirements, and understands how a part interacts with the larger machine (interfaces, tolerances, failure modes). Holds more than one hypothesis at a time and changes one variable at a time. |
Pragmatism & Focus | Treats cost, schedule, and manufacturability as design constraints. Knows when "good enough" meets the requirement and favors solutions with fewer parts and less complexity. Says "not now" to tangents so the critical path holds, and protects time for focused work. |
Curiosity & Learning | Learns quickly from the products, the shop floor, and the field. Prefers fast, low-cost tests that answer a question before committing to a full solution, and treats being wrong in testing as progress. |
The physical demands described herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and talk and hear. The employee is regularly required to stand, walk, and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. Ability to work for extended periods of time at a workstation on a computer or similar device. Occasional extended periods of standing, bending, kneeling.
This job operates in both an office setting and a manufacturing warehouse. This role routinely uses standard office equipment, hand tools, and material handling equipment. Travel: up to 10% as needed.
Employment with Cantrell-Gainco is contingent upon successfully completing both a pre-employment background check and a drug screening. All candidates hired must be able to provide proper documentation of their eligibility to work in the US (I-9 form). Cantrell-Gainco is an Equal Opportunity Employer – Minorities / Females / Disabled / Veterans (M/F/D/V)
Equal Opportunity Employer. This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor (https://www.eeoc.gov/poster).