What does a mechanical development engineer do?
A mechanical development engineer plans and designs tools, engines, machines, and other mechanically functioning equipment. They perform duties such as overseeing the installation, operation, maintenance and repair of equipment and systems. They also produce specifications for new or modified systems. They supervise design engineering for a variety of facilities, and they coordinate the construction, assembly, and testing of equipment and systems.
Mechanical development engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real mechanical development engineer resumes:
- Develop and manage the first BOM and release management process for communicating and tracking build changes/status with global factories.
- Manage design control including FMEA risk analysis, surgeon clinical input documentation, design verification and validation activities.
- Verify designs and concepts by testing finish product and system capabilities using computer base FEA , 3D printing/component prototyping.
- Specialize in product development services utilizing SolidWorks.
- Design and validate 3D-2D parts, manufacturing drawings, assemblies, BOM using SolidWorks.
- Compose and implement an automate MATLAB computing script to improve data processing time and efficiency.
- Evaluate properties of existing and potential conductive coil designs and insulation materials for use in an FEA model.
- Maintain rapid prototyping equipment used by the both the development and manufacturing teams, and provide instruction on their use.
- Possess development engineer's understanding of injection molding, thermoforming, extrusion, CNC machining, assembly methods, and prototyping.
- Design in accordance with both commercial and military standards and include cost management preparation and reporting per full DoD requirements.
- Assist in project coordination of OEM automotive parts to European auto manufactures, interfacing directly with the customer and tooling suppliers.
- Develop new automotive suspension products for OEM companies in accordance to customer project specifications and timing.
- Design in accordance with both commercial and military standards and include cost management preparation and reporting per full DoD requirements.
Mechanical development engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Mechanical Development Engineers are proficient in CAD, Solidworks, and FEA. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Listening skills, and Math skills.
We break down the percentage of Mechanical Development Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- CAD, 11%
Managed software development projects that significantly simplified the computational aided design (CAD) procedure.
- Solidworks, 9%
Created a program which generates SolidWorks models and prints based on a set of predetermined variables.
- FEA, 5%
Verify designs and concepts by testing finished product and system capabilities using computer based FEA, 3D printing/component prototyping.
- Product Design, 5%
Collaborated with engineering teammates on product development from idea generation through product design.
- R, 4%
Batch data processing and statistic analysis with R script programming, such as Gage R&R and t-test.
- Mechanical Design, 4%
Provide mechanical design input towards development of a blow-fill-seal reservoir intended to be incorporated in a proprietary drug delivery system.
"cad," "solidworks," and "fea" are among the most common skills that mechanical development engineers use at work. You can find even more mechanical development engineer responsibilities below, including:
Creativity. The most essential soft skill for a mechanical development engineer to carry out their responsibilities is creativity. This skill is important for the role because "mechanical engineers design and build complex pieces of equipment and machinery." Additionally, a mechanical development engineer resume shows how their duties depend on creativity: "inventory management: based on quickbooks developed bom, databases system for use in warehouse, reorganized warehouse. "
Listening skills. Another essential skill to perform mechanical development engineer duties is listening skills. Mechanical development engineers responsibilities require that "mechanical engineers often work on projects with others, such as architects and computer scientists." Mechanical development engineers also use listening skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "evaluated new product steppings with data analysis technique and communicated speed, power, yield related to process technology group. "
Math skills. This is an important skill for mechanical development engineers to perform their duties. For an example of how mechanical development engineer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "mechanical engineers use the principles of calculus, statistics, and other advanced subjects in math for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a mechanical development engineer: "conduct testing on prototypes to formulate statistics for usability analysis. ".
Mechanical skills. A big part of what mechanical development engineers do relies on "mechanical skills." You can see how essential it is to mechanical development engineer responsibilities because "mechanical skills allow engineers to apply basic engineering concepts and mechanical processes to the design of new devices and systems." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical mechanical development engineer tasks: "designed hydraulic and electromechanical height adjustment systems for comminutor product line. "
Problem-solving skills. A commonly-found skill in mechanical development engineer job descriptions, "problem-solving skills" is essential to what mechanical development engineers do. Mechanical development engineer responsibilities rely on this skill because "mechanical engineers need good problem-solving skills to take scientific principles and discoveries and use them to design and build useful products." You can also see how mechanical development engineer duties rely on problem-solving skills in this resume example: "provided mechanical engineering support and solutions to the production, facilities and maintenance departments. "
The three companies that hire the most mechanical development engineers are:
- Brunswick8 mechanical development engineers jobs
- Emerson3 mechanical development engineers jobs
- SharkNinja
3 mechanical development engineers jobs
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Compare different mechanical development engineers
Mechanical development engineer vs. Engineer
Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a mechanical development engineer are more likely to require skills like "product design," "mechanical design," "data acquisition," and "sigma." On the other hand, a job as an engineer requires skills like "python," "cloud," "c++," and "c #." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Engineers really shine in the automotive industry with an average salary of $97,672. Comparatively, mechanical development engineers tend to make the most money in the technology industry with an average salary of $96,587.On average, engineers reach lower levels of education than mechanical development engineers. Engineers are 5.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Mechanical development engineer vs. Staff engineer
Staff engineers are responsible for designing, developing, and inspecting various products, equipment, or structures. These professionals may perform varied duties depending on their specialization that includes overseeing the design and construction of buildings, bridges, sewer systems, and other infrastructure, estimating the financial costs of construction projects, and ensuring compliance with health and safety laws and regulations. Other duties include designing and developing machinery, tools, and engines, solving design problems, and building the manufacturing equipment needed to create their products.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real mechanical development engineer resumes. While mechanical development engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "solidworks," "fea," "product design," and "mechanical design," staff engineers use skills like "java," "python," "architecture," and "software development."
Staff engineers earn a higher average salary than mechanical development engineers. But staff engineers earn the highest pay in the telecommunication industry, with an average salary of $119,079. Additionally, mechanical development engineers earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $96,587 annually.staff engineers earn similar levels of education than mechanical development engineers in general. They're 2.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for mechanical development engineers in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Richard Onyancha
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Department Head, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Mechanical development engineer vs. Tool engineer
A tooling engineer is responsible for creating and adjusting tools or parts for cars, heavy equipment, and other products that need customized or personalized components. Your duties and responsibilities will include creating design blueprints, using computer-aided (CAD) software to develop two- and three-dimensional prints, and validating and evaluating products. As a tooling engineer, it is your responsibility to ensure compliance with operational standards such as the ISO 9000. You also have to provide technical assistance to manufacturing personnel and quality assurance.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a mechanical development engineer is likely to be skilled in "mechanical design," "data acquisition," "engineering drawings," and "mechanical development," while a typical tool engineer is skilled in "python," "java," "linux," and "jenkins."
Tool engineers earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $94,406. Comparatively, mechanical development engineers have the highest earning potential in the technology industry, with an average salary of $96,587.When it comes to education, tool engineers tend to earn lower degree levels compared to mechanical development engineers. In fact, they're 10.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Mechanical development engineer vs. Product engineer
A product engineer specializes in designing and developing commercial materials and services. They are primarily responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis of the latest trends and marketing conditions to come up with new ideas and products for the public. Moreover, they are also responsible for producing reports and presentations, coordinating with the development team of their company. Product engineers also reach out to vendors and suppliers for the raw materials, set regulations and standards for the product, and even conduct a rigorous and regular quality check.
Types of mechanical development engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
