Team Lead, Mechanical Design

Samuel, Son & Co. · Waterloo

As a Team Lead, Mechanical Design, you provide front-line leadership, coaching, workload visibility, and technical execution support for assigned designers. You help translate department priorities into clear day-to-day execution, ensuring technical issues, workload constraints, and support needs are visible early enough to keep design work moving with quality and confidence.

What You’ll Be Doing

This role combines three expectations: first-line people support, technical delivery leadership, and group-level workload visibility. The responsibilities below describe the daily responsibilities tied to those expectations.

Team Direction & Work Clarity

Give designers clear priorities, expectations, and technical direction so assigned work moves with minimal confusion.
Communicate decisions, trade-offs, and risks clearly so project participants stay aligned.

Group Leadership, Coaching & Load Visibility

Provide first-line leadership through regular 1:1s, workload visibility, coaching, and performance input to the Mechanical Design Manager.
Identify workload constraints, support needs, and capacity risks early enough to inform resourcing and priority decisions.

Technical Execution & Delivery

Own day-to-day technical execution for assigned mechanical design work, keeping scope, schedule, quality, safety, manufacturability, and customer requirements on track.
Resolve technical issues early and guide key design decisions from concept through integration and customer acceptance.

Cross-Functional Delivery Support

Partner with Applications Engineering, Manufacturing, Assembly, Integration, and customer-facing teams where technical clarity or execution confidence is needed.
Identify proposal, scope, readiness, and build risks early so downstream teams are not surprised.

Technical Quality & Problem Solving

Reinforce sound engineering judgment through design reviews, safety assessments, compliance awareness, and practical problem-solving.
Recommend improvements that strengthen design quality, efficiency, and delivery consistency.

Standards, Review Discipline & Risk Ownership

Drive consistent use of design standards, review expectations, and technical practices across the assigned group.
Keep risks, assumptions, release concerns, capacity issues, and quality concerns visible early through disciplined reviews and escalation.

Team Development Support

Mentor junior designers, new team members, and co-op students through practical coaching and review of real project work.
Identify capability gaps and development opportunities for discussion with the Mechanical Design Manager.

Team Lead and Mechanical Design Lead Boundary

Act as Mechanical Design Lead (MDL) on appropriate projects when scope, risk, workload, and development opportunity make sense; the Team Lead role does not automatically own MDL responsibility, and MDL may also be assigned to capable senior, intermediate, or developing designers.
When acting as or supporting an MDL, clarify scope breakdown, release planning, review readiness, designer coordination, and FAT support needs.

Where This Role Adds the Most Value

Turning department priorities into clear daily execution for assigned designers
Keeping technical issues, workload constraints, and delivery risks visible early enough to act on them
Strengthening design quality, review discipline, and practical engineering judgment within the assigned group
Creating a first-line support structure that helps designers grow while keeping project execution moving

Working Relationship

The Team Lead, Mechanical Design works in partnership with the Mechanical Design Manager to turn department priorities into clear day-to-day execution for assigned designers.

Team Lead, Mechanical Design: responsible for first-line group leadership, day-to-day technical execution, project work clarity, coaching, workload visibility, review discipline, technical escalation, delivery quality, and performance input
Mechanical Design Manager: accountable for department priorities, hiring, organizational clarity, final escalations, final performance decisions, and department administration

What Great Looks Like

Design work moves with clarity and minimal confusion
Technical issues are identified early and addressed constructively
Projects are supported with strong technical quality and practical execution discipline
Team members understand what they are working on and what good execution looks like
Assigned designers feel supported through practical coaching, clear escalation paths, and regular conversations about technical capability and execution habits
Design reviews, standards, risk visibility, and technical escalation are handled consistently within the assigned group
Cross-functional partners experience the team as responsive, solutions-oriented, and reliable
Junior team members are developing through hands-on coaching and support

You’ll Be Great At

Supporting group-level resourcing, coaching, review discipline, and workload visibility while remaining technically engaged
Mentoring others while maintaining strong delivery focus
Creating clarity within fast-moving, project-based environments
Communicating effectively across design, applications, production, and leadership
Leading technical execution while remaining hands-on in the work
Solving technical problems in a practical, structured way
Balancing urgency with sound engineering judgment

Key Requirements

Degree or Diploma in Mechanical, Mechatronic, Systems Design, Engineering Physics, Engineering Science, or related discipline
Significant experience in industrial automation and custom machine design
Strong technical capability in machine design, design reviews, integration support, and project execution
Experience working in project-based / ETO environments
Proficiency in SolidWorks, PDM, AutoCAD, and related engineering tools
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Ability to coach designers, inform performance and development discussions, support resource planning, and maintain visibility into workload, risk, and technical quality
Passion for leading and developing people

The base salary range for this position is $50.46 - $63.09 per year (CAD). The posted range reflects the expected base salary for this position. Actual base salary will be determined based on factors such as geographic location, skills, education, and experience, as well as internal equity considerations. Offers are typically made within the range and not at the top of the range to support growth and progression. This position is eligible to participate in a short-term incentive plan. Incentive awards, if any, are based on business and individual performance and are not guaranteed.

SAMST

#LI-CR1

At Samuel, we believe every team member brings unique and valuable skills, experiences and knowledge to our thriving business – enabling us to build on over 170 years of success in the metals industry. We offer countless opportunities for our team members to develop and grow in their careers, empower them to make decisions on the job and be a part of driving positive change – within our organization and in the communities where we live and work. If you’re seeking a dynamic, supportive and welcoming workplace to make your mark and grow your career, we have the programs, culture and opportunities to make it happen. We’re stronger together.

At Samuel we believe in a culture of equality. Respect and integrity are at our core. We are committed to building and creating an environment that is open and welcoming for everyone.

This job posting is for an existing vacancy within the organization

Samuel is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In the United States, we utilize E-Verify.

More jobs at Samuel, Son & Co. · Other jobs in Waterloo