Design Engineer - Elastomeric Products -- 13796 in Arlington

Job DescriptionJob Description

Walker Elliott has partnered with a leading manufacturer of engineered elastomeric products serving demanding offshore energy, aerospace, and defense markets to identify a Design Engineer with elastomeric products experience.

This is a hands-on technical role for an engineer who wants to be the subject matter expert behind products that operate where failure isn't an option: laminated bearings on offshore platforms, rocket motor flex seals, and shock and vibration isolation systems built to perform across decades and extreme environments.

You'll work shoulder-to-shoulder with a team of elastomer chemists and mechanical designers, owning the material side of product development from compound characterization through FEA, prototype testing, and qualification. The work blends deep technical analysis with real-world problem solving - translating lab data into models, models into designs, and designs into products customers trust in mission-critical applications.

If you've spent your career becoming the person colleagues turn to when rubber behavior gets unpredictable, this is the seat where that expertise drives the product roadmap.

WHAT YOU'LL OWN

• Process material test data and develop viscoelastic and hyper-elastic property models that drive FEA across the product portfolio.
• Run non-linear FEA on current and next- products, translating analysis into design decisions and customer-ready conclusions.
• Lead the mechanical, physical, and durability test programs for elastomer compounds and adhesive systems - maintaining what works, building what's needed to push the products forward.
• Apply detailed analytics to material test data and final product performance, spotting trends in rubber manufacturing that inform real-time decisions and adjustments.
• Design, coordinate, and evaluate prototype and qualification test programs against established acceptance criteria.
• Partner across manufacturing, quality, procurement, engineering, and material vendors to maintain product performance and long-term consistency.
• Solve the design, manufacturing, and test challenges that come with working at the edge of what rubber materials can do.
• Build and deliver presentations of designs and analyses to internal stakeholders and external customers - and own the technical conversation that follows.
• Provide technical support to internal teams and external customers as the go-to resource for elastomer questions.

WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS

This isn't a seat where elastomer engineering is a side specialty - it's the core of the product. The company's laminated bearings hold up offshore structures. Their flex seals steer rocket motors. Their isolation systems protect equipment that has to survive shock loads and decades of cyclic loading. Material behavior is the product, and the person in this role is the technical authority on how it performs.

You'll have access to a mature test infrastructure, an experienced chemist team, and product lines with real engineering depth - plus the runway to advance the materials, the methods, and the analytical capability behind them.

WHAT YOU BRING

• MS in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline with 7+ years of relevant experience, OR BS in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline with 7+ years of relevant experience.
• 5+ years working with non-metallic materials - rubber / elastomers, plastics, and adhesives - .
• Proficiency running non-linear FEA with rubber materials.
• Solid working knowledge of rubber compounding and mixing fundamentals.
• Strong understanding of engineered rubber components -seals, laminated bearings, shock mounts.
• Familiarity with the test equipment and standards used in rubber material characterization.
• Detail-oriented with sharp observation skills for interpreting test results and working through ambiguous problems.
• Comfortable reading engineering drawings and schematics.
• Excellent communicator - equally credible explaining material science to a chemist and design implications to a customer.
• Self-directed, able to manage multiple priorities, and operates with a sense of urgency.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT

Office environment with a team of engineers. Primary work involves use of computer, CAD, phone, and standard office equipment. Frequent sitting, standing, walking, and reaching. Occasional stairs or elevator use. Moderate walking, reaching, bending, pushing, and pulling.

Do not apply unless you are authorized to work in the United States for any employer as client company cannot sponsor or transfer visas at this time.

Walker Elliott is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

For additional information, please email your resume to resumes@walker-elliott.com or apply online.

Company DescriptionAbout Walker Elliott

We connect, advise and support companies and new employees to help them grow and thrive. As a mid-size recruitment firm, we focus on the specialized sectors of upstream oil and gas and information technology. With us, you get the best of both worlds - local expertise together with the finest market intelligence needed to find great candidates. Our people have an average tenure of more than ten years in their specific area of technical expertise, and our hands-on service approach is methodical, personalized and proven. We know that hiring people with the right attitude, behaviors and cultural fit is critical to ensuring high performers for your business. That’s why our skilled recruiters work closely as a team and combine their unique expertise, knowledge, and skills to deliver the best results.Company DescriptionAbout Walker Elliott\r\n\r\nWe connect, advise and support companies and new employees to help them grow and thrive. As a mid-size recruitment firm, we focus on the specialized sectors of upstream oil and gas and information technology. With us, you get the best of both worlds - local expertise together with the finest market intelligence needed to find great candidates. Our people have an average tenure of more than ten years in their specific area of technical expertise, and our hands-on service approach is methodical, personalized and proven. We know that hiring people with the right attitude, behaviors and cultural fit is critical to ensuring high performers for your business. That’s why our skilled recruiters work closely as a team and combine their unique expertise, knowledge, and skills to deliver the best results.