Staff Mechanical Engineer

Who You Are

As the first Staff Mechanical Engineer on the SILA Moses Lake factory engineering team your unique combination of experience, technical expertise, planning and troubleshooting skills will be critical to our ambitious goal of establishing and maintaining production of our advanced battery materials at scale. You will be part of the commissioning of SILA’s very first mass-scale manufacturing line. Given your experience, you will have the chance to optimize and influence our equipment strategy from a Mechanical Engineering perspective to ensure the highest equipment and facility uptime and reliability. You will be the team’s go-to mechanical engineering support to address a diverse set of challenges that we face on a daily basis. Using a combination of deep process, operations and mechanical engineering knowledge, you will efficiently solve production issues at the core as well as suggest and implement improvements to the equipment and plant design with the help of your peers and other team members from across Sila. You will also play a significant role in our long-term success by leading process throughput, performance, reliability and safety improvements; ensuring that the operations team can consistently deliver more of our product to a growing list of customers!

Responsibilities and Duties  

• Design, development, testing and troubleshooting of pumps, blowers, furnaces and material handling equipment. 
• Leading and owning Sila’s Moses Lake Mechanical Integrity efforts within Sila’s PSM strategy.
• Creation of schematics, diagrams, and layouts for mechanical systems.
• Develop inspection and equipment health check strategy and documentation.
• CAD and fabrication drawings for mechanical fixtures and equipment.
• Establish working relationships with external fabrication services.
• Participate in cost-benefit evaluations and feasibility studies.
• Review and approve mechanical design documents, including specifications, drawings, and calculations.
• Ensure that all of Sila’s installations are designed and installed in compliance with applicable codes, standards, and regulations.
• Develop optimal maintenance and equipment health check strategy (vibration monitoring, lubrication strategy, maintenance intervals).
• Develop optimal spare part strategy for all of Sila’s equipment.
• Use Sila’s available tool and operational database to develop predictive maintenance procedures.
• Provide technical guidance and support to other team members.
• Keep abreast on new developments in the field of instrumentation and control systems as well as market trends.

Knowledge and Skill Requirements 

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field
• 8+ years of experience in mechanical engineering, preferably in a manufacturing equipment engineering environment
• Proficiency in using CAD software for mechanical design
• Experience high temperature furnace design.
• Knowledge of codes, standards, and regulations for equipment associated with chemical production facilities.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Experience with industrial processes and equipment, such as pumps, motors, and valves, and furnaces.
• Familiarity with Mechanical Integrity Concepts in a PSM facility. 
• Professional Engineering (PE) license is preferred

Physical Demands and Working Conditions

• Pass a respirator fit test and be able to wear respiratory protection on a daily basis
• Wear personal protective equipment including, but not limited to, a lab coat, gloves, safety glasses, and steel toe safety shoes
• Move items up to 50 lbs with the assistance of lift equipment and carts
• Move long distances (such as from building to building) and be stationary for extended periods of time
• Reach low shelves or items on the floor
• Enter spaces narrower than 3 feet
• Climb stairs or over containment walls
• Precise and repetitive handling of a range of material quantities
• Operate a computer and other office equipment, such as a laptop, copier/printer, etc in a fixed location

The starting base pay for this role is between $155,000 and $196,000 at the time of posting. The actual base pay depends on many factors, such as education, experience, and skills. Base pay is only one part of Sila’s competitive Total Rewards package that can include benefits, perks, equity, and bonuses.  The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future.