Level 3 Communications, Inc

Manager Mechanical Engineer

Level 3 Communications, Inc$108K — $130K *
Aerospace & Defense
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field; or equivalent experience.
  • Minimum of 9 years of relevant experience, or 7 years with a graduate degree.
  • Experience in engineering leadership, including people management and performance evaluation.
  • Strong background in thermal and structural analysis for electro-mechanical hardware.
  • Experience with commercial analysis tools for FEA and thermal modeling.
  • Strong communication skills for both technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Department of Defense security clearance.

Responsibilities

  • Lead and develop a high-performing mechanical and environmental analysis team.
  • Manage resource assignment to align with business priorities and project needs.
  • Provide technical direction for various analyses ensuring rigor and documentation.
  • Enhance model accuracy through correlation with testing and real-world performance.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to resolve design and performance issues.
  • Improve standard work processes for analysis and reporting consistency.
  • Contribute to proposal development and customer presentations.
  • Mentor team members and manage performance for technical and leadership growth.
  • Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance team effectiveness.
  • Assess tools and capabilities for future team needs.

Benefits

  • Every other Friday off due to 9/80 schedule.
  • Professional development opportunities for team members.
  • Culture of accountability, collaboration, and inclusion.
  • Focus on engineering excellence and customer commitment.
Full Job Description
Job Title: Manager, Mechanical Engineering

Job Code: 42015

Job Location: Salt Lake City, UT

Job Schedule: 9/80 Employees work 9 out of every 14 days- totaling 80 hours working- and have every other Friday off

L3Harris is seeking a people-focused engineering leader to manage the Environmental Analysis Team within Mechanical Engineering. This role leads experienced analysts responsible for thermal, structural, shock, vibration, and environmental analysis supporting the design, qualification, production, and sustainment of ruggedized electronic and electro-mechanical hardware.

The Manager translates functional goals into short-term operating plans, aligns staffing and execution to program priorities, and ensures the team delivers technically sound analysis products on schedule. The role combines day-to-day leadership of analysts with hands-on engagement in methods development, process improvement, customer support, and cross-functional problem solving.

Key Responsibilities
• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of mechanical and environmental analysts supporting multiple programs and product lines.
• Assign team resources to proposals, development efforts, qualification programs, production support, and sustainment activities based on business priorities, skill mix, and schedule needs.
• Provide technical direction for thermal, structural, vibration, shock, fatigue, and environmental analyses, and ensure assumptions, models, reports, and recommendations are technically rigorous and clearly documented.
• Drive close correlation between analysis, test, and field performance data to improve model accuracy, design confidence, and product reliability.
• Partner with systems, electrical, manufacturing, quality, test, supply chain, and program teams to resolve design issues and balance performance, cost, producibility, and schedule.
• Establish and improve standard work for analysis planning, peer reviews, model quality, report quality, and lessons learned to increase consistency and efficiency across the team.
• Support proposal development, basis-of-estimate creation, technical risk assessments, and customer presentations related to environmental performance and design maturity.
• Hire, onboard, mentor, and assess team members; provide clear feedback, performance management, and development plans that strengthen both technical depth and leadership capability.
• Champion continuous improvement through metrics, root-cause problem solving, method enhancement, and practical automation that reduces cycle time without reducing quality.
• Maintain awareness of tool, software, and lab capability needs and recommend investments that improve team effectiveness and long-term capacity.
• Promote a culture of accountability, collaboration, inclusion, and engineering excellence with a strong sense of urgency around customer commitments and program milestones.
• Contribute directly to technically challenging work when needed, particularly for high-risk analyses, design trades, and issue resolution.

Required Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline and a minimum of 9 years of prior related experience; graduate degree with a minimum of 7 years of prior related experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Engineering leadership experience, including direct people management, workload planning, performance evaluation, coaching, and difficult conversation skills.
• Strong background in thermal and structural analysis for mechanical or electro-mechanical hardware, including experience with vibration, shock, and environmental qualification methods.
• Demonstrated ability to work across functions and influence technical decisions involving design, manufacturing, quality, test, and program leadership.
• Experience using commercial analysis tools for FEA and thermal modeling, and the judgment to select the right level of analysis for the problem at hand.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical conclusions to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Department of Defense security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications
• Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.
• Experience supporting ruggedized electronics, aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability products.
• Experience with qualification testing and model correlation for temperature, altitude, shock, vibration, humidity, dust, or other environmental requirements.
• Knowledge of electronics packaging, heat transfer, structural dynamics, reliability, and design-for-manufacturing principles.
• Experience with additive manufacturing, design optimization, or scripting and automation used to improve analysis workflows.
• Familiarity with open architecture hardware standards and mixed-signal electronic packaging challenges.

Leadership Attributes
• Builds trust through clear expectations, timely feedback, and consistent follow-through.
• Uses sound judgment to make difficult decisions with incomplete information and competing priorities.
• Creates momentum by removing obstacles, aligning stakeholders, and keeping teams focused on outcomes.
• Balances technical depth with practical execution and continuous improvement.
• Communicates with credibility, curiosity, and respect in both customer-facing and internal settings.

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