Senior Project Engineer at Southern Systems International – Memphis, Tennessee

We are seeking a Senior Engineer / Technical Lead to play a critical role in the design, execution, and technical leadership of complex, custom conveyor systems. This role is ideal for an experienced engineer who enjoys owning high-level technical decisions, guiding projects through ambiguity, and mentoring project engineers in a fast-paced ETO environment.

This is a hands-on technical role with leadership responsibility — not a purely managerial position.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Project Execution

• Lead high-level engineering aspects of custom conveyor systems, including:
  • system layouts and architecture
  • load paths and structural concepts
  • interfaces with fabrication, installation, and controls
• Serve as the technical authority on assigned projects, particularly during early concept and critical design phases.
• Support resolution of complex technical issues arising during fabrication, installation, or commissioning.
• Evaluate design alternatives, deviations, and risk trade-offs to support cost, schedule, and quality objectives.

Design Review & Quality Assurance

• Conduct structured design reviews for project engineers’ work, ensuring:
  • technical correctness
  • constructability
  • alignment with internal standards and customer requirements
• Identify potential downstream issues early to reduce rework and field changes
• Act as a final technical check before releasing of critical designs

Mentorship & Capability Development

• Mentor and coach project engineers and junior engineers, helping them:
  • develop sound engineering judgment
  • understand system-level thinking
  • improve design quality and efficiency
• Provide guidance without becoming a bottleneck — enabling others to execute independently over time
• Contribute to the development and refinement of engineering standards, best practices, and reusable design elements

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with:
  • project management
  • fabrication and manufacturing
  • field installation teams
• Support clear communication of design intent and technical decisions across disciplines
• Participate in customer discussions as needed to explain technical solutions or resolve issues

What Success Looks Like in This Role

• Project engineers become more capable and less dependent over time
• Design quality improves, with fewer late changes and field issues
• Technical decisions are made earlier and with greater confidence
• Senior engineers protect throughput by enabling others, not doing all the work themselves

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or related field (required).
• 8–15+ years of experience in engineered-to-order (ETO) industrial systems
• Strong experience with custom conveyor systems, material handling equipment, or similar industrial machinery
• Demonstrated ability to:
  • make high-level technical decisions
  • review and guide others’ designs
  • solve complex, real-world engineering problems
• Solid understanding of fabrication, installation, and field realities
• Experience mentoring or leading other engineers (formally or informally)
• Proficient in AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor for layout development, system design, and design review in an ETO environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with power & free conveyor systems.
• Familiarity with:
  • structural design principles
  • industrial standards and codes
  • manufacturability and installation sequencing
• Previous role as a technical lead, senior engineer, or principal engineer in an ETO environment

What This Role Is (and Is Not) This role is:

• Technical leadership
• System-level engineering
• Mentorship and quality ownership

This role is not:

• A pure people-management position
• A detail-only CAD role
• A “firefighter only” role with no influence upstream

Why This Role Matters: Our engineering organization is evolving to support higher project complexity and concurrency. This role exists to strengthen senior technical capacity, reduce rework, and build a more scalable, resilient engineering team.

Compensation: Competitive and commensurate with experience.