Motion System Engineer

Located in Radford, VA

Salary: $90,000 - $110,000 Salary

Motion System Engineer

We are seeking a Motion System Engineer to lead the development and delivery of precision motion stages and actuators. This role combines deep mechanical engineering judgment with motion control knowledge, customer leadership, and project ownership.

You will turn customer needs into clear product specifications, guide external design partners, and work with electrical engineers and U.S. production partners to deliver systems ready for customer integration. Our partners perform detailed mechanical design; you will define what the system must achieve, evaluate their work, and lead technical decisions throughout the project.

What You’ll Do

• Serve as the primary technical contact for customers and design and production partners.
• Gather customer requirements and translate them into specifications for precision stages, actuators, cables, sensors, feedback devices, controllers, drive electronics, wiring, and connectors.
• Lead projects from requirements through delivery, managing schedules, milestones, changes, risks, and customer expectations.
• Review and direct partners’ mechanical designs, using your knowledge of kinematics, stiffness, error budgets, bearings, guideways, tolerances, and GD&T.
• Work with electrical engineers and partners to resolve motion control and system integration issues.
• Own the specifications, drawings, bills of materials, and acceptance criteria used in development and production.
• Coordinate builds and testing with production partners; verify that products meet requirements and that the customer integration package is complete.
• Support customers, sales, and manufacturing partners with technical questions, troubleshooting, and product integration.
• Use CAD and engineering analysis as needed to develop concepts, review designs, and resolve technical issues. Maintain clear records of design decisions and test results.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or a related engineering field.
• Substantial experience with precision motion stages or actuators, including the ability to specify systems and critically evaluate mechanical designs.
• Working knowledge of servo and stepper motors, drives, motion controllers, encoders, feedback, and controls integration.
• Experience leading customer technical discussions and translating requirements into actionable specifications.
• Experience managing concurrent projects and coordinating external design or production partners.
• Proficiency with a professional CAD tool such as SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor, or Creo.
• Hands-on experience with prototyping, testing, and troubleshooting.
• Strong written communication, sound engineering judgment, and the ability to work independently across disciplines.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with finite element analysis.
• Experience writing product specifications, production acceptance criteria, or safety and compliance requirements, including NRTL listing.
• Familiarity with semiconductor, life sciences, or laboratory automation applications, especially XYZ gantry systems.
• Experience with PDM or PLM systems.

Compensation

Anticipated starting salary: $90,000–$110,000. Actual starting pay will depend on relevant experience, qualifications, and geographic location. Total compensation may also include profit sharing, sales incentives, a SIMPLE IRA retirement plan, health and dental coverage, paid time off, and applicable local benefits.

We value honesty, accountability, humility, and the ability to build trust and respect with colleagues, customers, and partners.

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