Design Engineer

What You’ll Do (Job Duties)

• Lead a broad mix of engineering projects. Plan and lead moderately complex Current Product Improvement, quality, legacy-product maintenance, component-obsolescence, New Product Introduction, technology-development, custom product, kit, regulatory, cost-reduction, and unmet customer need projects. Define scope, milestones, risks, deliverables, and required resources while maintaining alignment with business and customer priorities.

• Apply advanced engineering analysis and judgment. Analyze complex and sometimes incomplete data to identify root causes, evaluate alternatives, quantify risk, and recommend solutions. Assess form, fit, function, safety, serviceability, manufacturing impact, cost, and next-higher-level effects; lead analysis, prototype builds, fit-ups, testing, and design reviews.

• Own technical execution, documentation, and release. Provide technical direction for assigned work and ensure models, drawings, bills of material, engineering notices, kit content, and installation or service information are accurate and complete. Lead quality reviews, verify configurations in company systems, and drive issues through release and implementation.

• Lead resolution of production, supply, and customer issues. Coordinate the response to deviations, supplier questions, assurance-of-supply risks, obsolete parts, and factory, dealer, or field concerns. Establish containment and long-term corrective actions, balance urgency with technical risk, and develop replacement solutions that prevent production interruptions and sustain customer support.

• Provide cross-functional project leadership. Lead collaboration with system teams, manufacturing, suppliers, purchasing, quality, validation, NPI teams, dealers, and regional engineering groups. Facilitate decisions, communicate project status and risks, align stakeholders on priorities, and engage technical experts when specialized knowledge is required. Mentor less-experienced engineers and contribute to improvements in engineering methods and processes.

• Requires a degree in an accredited Engineering, Computer Science, or Materials Science curriculum.

What You Have (Core Skills)

• Project Leadership: Ability to define project scope, establish plans and milestones, coordinate cross-functional resources, manage risks, and drive moderately complex engineering projects to completion.
• Analytical Thinking: Ability to collect and interpret technical data, identify patterns and root causes, evaluate alternatives and tradeoffs, assess risk, and make well-supported recommendations in ambiguous situations.
• Effective Communication: Ability to clearly communicate technical information, decisions, risks, and recommendations to technical and nontechnical audiences and influence alignment across functions.
• Managing Multiple Priorities: Ability to balance multiple concurrent projects and urgent issues, adjust plans as conditions change, and maintain accountability for commitments, quality, and timing.
• Technical Excellence: Broad knowledge of applicable engineering technologies and methods; ability to independently resolve significant technical challenges and provide technical guidance to others.
• Computer-Aided Design & Engineering: Knowledge of specialized design and analysis tools; ability to produce, analyze, simulate, review, and validate product designs.
• Product Design - MFG: Knowledge of product design and manufacturing processes; ability to convert customer and market requirements into robust, manufacturable product solutions.
• Product Design and Development: Ability to lead product, component, or technology development from concept and requirements through validation, release, production implementation, and ongoing support.

Top Candidates Will Also Have

• Demonstrated experience leading engineering projects or major workstreams, including scope definition, planning, risk management, stakeholder alignment, and delivery.
• A record of using data-driven analysis, root-cause methods, risk assessment, and engineering judgment to resolve complex or ambiguous problems.
• Experience resolving current-production, quality, supplier, customer, or component-obsolescence issues and coordinating actions across multiple functions.
• Experience owning engineering work from problem definition through design, validation, release, implementation, and follow-up.
• Strong working knowledge of 3D modeling, drawing creation, tolerance analysis, and engineering change processes (ideally Creo and Teamcenter).
• Experience evaluating form, fit, function, safety, serviceability, manufacturability, cost, and system-level impacts and documenting technical tradeoffs.
• Proven ability to manage several projects while responding effectively to urgent production or customer needs and maintaining clear priorities.
• Experience working directly with manufacturing facilities, suppliers, purchasing, quality, validation, product-support teams, and technical experts.
• Ability to facilitate technical reviews, influence decisions, communicate risk, and gain stakeholder alignment without relying on direct authority.
• Experience providing technical guidance or mentoring to less-experienced engineers and contributing to engineering process improvements.
• Knowledge of heavy equipment, off-highway machines, or related mechanical systems.

Additional Details

• Work location: Peoria, IL
• Domestic relocation assistance IS available for this role
• Visa sponsorship is NOT available for this role.
• Travel: 10%
• This position requires 5 days per week in the office (M-F)

Summary Pay Range:

$97,530.00 - $146,290.00

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:

October 12, 2026 - October 26, 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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