Director of Mechanical Engineering

Memphis Meats is building novel cultivation systems to enable massive scalability of cell-based meat production.  We are seeking an experienced mechanical engineering team leader with both technical depth and creative vision to build a team and facility capable of rapid ideation, design, fabrication and testing of novel cultivator prototypes.  The mechanical engineering team will work collaboratively with the bioprocess development team to define the system requirements and evaluate the performance of novel prototypes, all within the context of the overall company near and long-term goals.  There is a massive white space of engineering design ahead in this emerging field to be explored. The leader in this role will build out the mechanical engineering function at Memphis Meats to be a best-in-class team with the personnel and tools necessary to rapidly bring the best ideas to reality.

About you

You should have a wide variety of experiences that span the breadth of mechanical engineering from design to model simulations to manufacturing.  You should have experience in leading edge design environments where creative vision and passion are matched with the ability to bring novel elements to reality in a rapid manner. You should be passionate about the rigor and focus it takes to design toward elegantly simple and highly efficient systems. You should be an experienced and inspiring team leader and an excellent communicator. You should value mentoring and building a dynamic collaborative team into a highly effective organization.

Duties Include

• Building and leading a new functional team of mechanical engineers to deliver novel and effective process equipment solutions for meat production
• Managing timelines and plans for new equipment from development through delivery
• Review, editing and approval of designs and strategies for improving manufacturability
• Determining best manufacturing options for equipment designs
• Reviewing and editing drawings
• Reviewing FEA and CFD results and advising on next steps
• Creating test plans for validating new equipment
• Mentoring career growth of the mechanical engineering team
• Managing and distributing work within the mechanical engineering team
• Implementing and maintaining an Engineering document management system
• Recruiting and growing the mechanical engineering team
• Representing the work and strategies of the mechanical eng. team to the larger organization.

About You

• 10+ years of relevant work experience including design, prototyping, manufacturing and testing of novel industrial equipment
• Experience managing the work of a team (5+ engineers)
• Experience growing a team and shaping the vision for that team’s work
• Experience managing and working with outside vendors and contractors
• Able to estimate and provide scheduling for upcoming work
• Prototyping experience and/or familiarity
• Large scale manufacturing processes (CNC, injection molding etc) experience and/or familiarity
• Metal working process experience (welding, stamping, forming etc)
• Mechanical CAD experience
• Experience with systems designed to meet the sanitary standards of ASME BPE or 3-A SSI 
• Experience designing and fabricating systems for food processing
• Experience with computational fluid dynamics, finite element analysis and thermal analysis software(s)
• Demonstrated ability to come with novel solutions to difficult problems
• Can-do attitude and thrives in ambiguity

Nice to have

• Facility design experience (especially for cell culture and/or food processing)
• Plumbing design experience
• Construction experience
• HVAC design experience
• Hands-on and deep experience with CFD

Memphis Meats is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

How to apply