Sr. Design Engineering Specialist

Career Area:

Engineering

Job Description:

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.

When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other.  We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

Caterpillar’s BCP division is hiring a Sr. Design Engineering Specialist located in Sanford, NC. This role provides technical and project leadership for the performance, tuning, and integration of machine control systems on Compact Track Loader (CTL) and Skid Steer Loader (SSL) products.

Role Summary

The Senior Performance and Integration Engineer will lead and execute complex, cross-functional projects by building collaborative relationships across product, commercial, engineering, software, and manufacturing teams. A significant portion of this role is dedicated to hands-on machine tuning, calibration, and performance evaluation activities to ensure delivery of high-quality, customer-focused machine-control solutions and software features.

The successful candidate will serve as a technical leader, mentor engineers, and evaluate tradeoffs involving performance, velocity, cost, manufacturability, reliability, and customer value.

What You’ll Do

• Use customer feedback, competitive benchmarking, field performance data, emerging-technology evaluation, and engineering analysis to identify and prioritize continuous improvement opportunities.
• Collaborate with customers and product, commercial, and systems engineering teams to develop and execute multi-generational product plans for CTL and SSL machine systems.
• Perform hands-on machine tuning, calibration, and performance evaluation activities to optimize machine behavior, validate control-system performance, and deliver customer-valued features.
• Ensure machine hardware and software meet customer, product, and production requirements by developing and validating control systems that deliver best-in-class performance and customer value.
• Coordinate activities across hydraulics, engines, electrical, and software teams while building stakeholder alignment.
• Own system-level technical requirements and performance targets with validation plans for assigned machine systems.
• Support factory testing and calibration of production machines and ensure control system design is robust for manufacturability.
• Mentor and develop engineers through technical leadership, knowledge sharing, work reviews, and promotion of engineering best practices.

What You Have

Education

Bachelor's degree from an accredited Engineering, Computer Science, or Materials Science curriculum, or equivalent industry experience.

Core Skills

• Systems Engineering and Technical Excellence - Demonstrated ability to solve significant technical challenges involving complex machine controls and integrated software and hydraulic systems.
• Analytical Thinking - Ability to break complex problems into component parts, identify potential root causes, recognize discrepancies in available information, select appropriate analytical methods, and develop effective alternative solutions.
• Decision-Making and Critical Thinking - Ability to evaluate alternatives with multiple stakeholders, distinguish between the technical content and organizational context of a decision, anticipate risks, and make timely, informed recommendations.
• Product Development - Knowledge of product-development methodologies and the associated requirements, design, integration, testing, production, and support activities needed to deliver new or enhanced products.
• Troubleshooting Technical Problems - Ability to anticipate, detect, isolate, and resolve complex or non-recurring problems involving interactions among mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, controls, software, and machine systems.

Top Candidates Will Also Have

• Proven experience with on-machine tuning of complex control and hydraulic systems, including system-level ownership of requirements, performance, and customer outcomes.
• Experience translating customer, competitive, field, and engineering insights into successful product improvements.
• Demonstrated success leading complex technology, performance, or integration projects from concept through production by communicating effectively, building alignment, and influencing stakeholders across engineering, product, commercial, and manufacturing organizations.
• Software and controls design experience, including the ability to interpret and evaluate implementations developed in MATLAB, C, and Simulink.
• Demonstrated success developing the technical capability of other engineers.
• Previous experience with hydraulic system design or testing.
• Experience using Vector CANape to adjust control parameters and operating construction machines to validate the resulting machine behavior.

Additional Details

• Work location: Sanford, NC
• Relocation: Domestic relocation assistance is available
• Visa sponsorship: Visa sponsorship is not available
• Travel: Up to 20% travel
• Work arrangement: This position requires onsite work five days per week, Monday through Friday

Summary Pay Range:

$147,760.00 - $221,640.00

Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, individual performance and experience. Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar.

Benefits:

Subject to plan eligibility, terms, and guidelines. This is a summary list of benefits.

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits*

• Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)*

• 401(k) savings plans*

• Health Savings Account (HSA)*

• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*

• Health Lifestyle Programs*

• Employee Assistance Program*

• Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts*

• Career Development*

• Incentive bonus*

• Disability benefits

• Life Insurance

• Parental leave

• Adoption benefits

• Tuition Reimbursement

* These benefits also apply to part-time employees

This position requires working onsite five days a week.

Relocation is available for this position.

Visa Sponsorship is not available for this position.

Posting Dates:

September 24, 2026 - October 8, 2026

Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.

Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities.  Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply.

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