Product Engineer

Job Summary:

We are looking for a talented Product Engineer to join our team in Rocky Mount, NC. In this role, you will serve as the central connection point between Product Engineering and the cross‑functional teams that keep daily production running—Operations, Quality, Manufacturing, Materials, and Product Support. Your work will focus on rapidly addressing the issues that directly impact engine production, ensuring the build schedule stays intact while protecting product quality. You will lead short‑term, immediate solutions to design‑related concerns on the production floor, while also initiating and supporting longer‑term, permanent design improvements. A key aspect of this position involves representing Product Engineering during machining non‑conformance reviews, supplier quality investigations, customer quality escalations, and internal crisis management, ensuring that every decision is grounded in sound technical assessment. You will also play a critical role in navigating supplier continuity challenges, helping implement short‑term recovery actions that prevent disruptions to engine builds. Success in this position requires strong CAD/3D modeling capability, formal problem‑solving discipline, the ability to thrive in a highly collaborative environment, and comfort working with data from multiple software systems. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys dynamic, hands‑on engineering work and is motivated by directly influencing production flow, product reliability, and customer satisfaction.

In this role, you will make an impact in the following ways: 

• Lead Structured Problem Resolution: Investigate product and system issues by understanding causal mechanisms, recommending appropriate corrective actions, owning problem resolution, and clearly documenting results with guidance from more experienced team members.
• Execute Core Product Support Processes: Support Product Preceding Technology (PPT), Value Package Introduction (VPI), and Current Product Support (CPS) activities by executing established technical and business processes to ensure product quality and readiness.
• Apply Robust Engineering Methodologies: Utilize Engineering Standard Work (ESW), iDFMEA, Failure Incident Review Group (FIRG), 7-step problem solving, design review checklists, and other specialized tools to enable fact-based, high-quality technical decisions.
• Collaborate Across Stakeholders: Obtain and integrate input from technical managers, project leaders, product and manufacturing engineers, and supplier partners to deliver sound technical recommendations and drive quality-focused outcomes.
• Make Informed, Quality-Driven Decisions: Apply academic knowledge and practical experience to make day-to-day project decisions, including analysis approaches, test work instructions, and cross-functional coordination, without compromising quality expectations.
• Own Moderately Complex Technical Scope: Take accountability for resolving issues related to moderately complex components, subsystems, systems, or services, managing increasing technical ambiguity and complexity as experience grows.
• Independently Execute and Improve Processes: Perform established work processes with minimal supervision while continuing to develop product and technology knowledge, and actively contribute to the improvement of systems and processes.
• Support Team Effectiveness and Influence: Contribute positively to team goals, coordinate work with technicians or student employees as needed, and build influence within the work group while strengthening proficiency in critical role competencies.

To be successful in this role you will need the following: 

• Data‑Driven Engineering Judgment: Apply principles of statistical methods to analyze technical data using descriptive statistics, probability distributions, graphical analysis, and statistical inference. Leverage regression, analysis of variance, and design of experiments to model relationships, assess risk, and make rigorous, evidence‑based engineering decisions.
• Cross‑Functional Design Integration and Systems Thinking: Translate value package and stakeholder requirements into robust virtual designs, clearly articulating design capability through effective cross‑functional design reviews. Apply systems thinking to understand interfaces, interactions, and lifecycle impacts to ensure integrated, high‑quality product solutions.
• Mechanical Design Expertise: Develop innovative, reliable mechanical system designs by applying deep working knowledge of mechanical principles and lifecycle requirements. Create complete mechanical design specifications, including solid models, engineering bills of materials, and detailed drawings that comply with Cummins, industry, and regulatory standards.
• Product Development and Change Management: Plan, execute, monitor, and control product development activities across the full lifecycle, while maintaining configuration integrity. Effectively manage product changes from concept through obsolescence, balancing scope, quality, risk, and schedule expectations.
• Technical Problem Solving and Communication: Solve product problems using structured, customer‑focused methodologies that identify assignable and systemic root causes. Document and communicate findings, decisions, and recommendations clearly and effectively to enable alignment, knowledge transfer, and sustained product reliability.

Education, Licenses, Certifications: 

• College, university, or equivalent Bachelor's degree in Engineering or appropriate STEM field is required. 
• Post-graduate (Master's) degree relevant to this discipline area may be required for select roles. 
• This position may require licensing for compliance with export controls or sanctions regulations. 

Experience: 

• Entry level/Early career professional. 
• Preferred candidates would have relevant experience working in either a temporary student employment environment (intern, co-op, or other extracurricular team activities) or as an early career professional in a relevant technical discipline area. 

This role is the primary interface for Product Engineering with the various other RMEP teams supporting daily production including Operations, Quality, Manufacturing, and Materials. This role also works closely with the Product Support Technicians to aid their efforts resolving daily production line issues.

- Leads short term / temporary resolution of product design issues
- Recommends, initiates, and at times leads projects implementing permanent design fixes
- Focus is to prioritize and attack the immediate problems impacting engine production at RMEP
- Lead role in identifying and implementing short term fixes for supplier continuity misses to preserve engine build schedule
- Lead role to represent Product concerns during Machining component NCM investigations. Preserves build schedule and prevents wasteful scrap of recoverable parts
- Lead role to represent Product concerns during Quality crisis management. Ensures qualified assessment of risk to product before engines are shipped to customers
- Lead role to represent Product concerns for Customer Quality investigations of field issues
- Lead role to represent Product concerns during investigations of supplier quality misses

CAD/3D modeling skills required
Formal application of Problem Solving methodology 
Must be comfortable in a highly collaborative environment
Software programming aptitude is a plus due to frequent data acquisition from multiple 3rd party software environments

College Job type:  Entry level full time
Subfunction: Product Engineering
Degree level: BS
Educational Program: Prefer ME
Start date: 09/2026
Job Skill Requirements:

- CAD skills
- hands on mechanical experience is a plus, either professional or hobby level
- Formal Problem solving/ troubleshooting skills
- Component design and validation experience is a plus

Required Work Location: On-site with Flexibility

U.S. Early Careers Eligibility Requirements:

Exempt Entry Level: Designed for external candidates within 2 years of completing their highest level of degree (Bachelor, Master, PhD, MBA, or JD) from an accredited U.S. college/university, and currently reside within the continental U.S.

International Student Eligibility (U.S. based roles): F-1 visa students must have approved Curricular Practical Training (CPT) or Occupational Practical Training (OPT) before their Early Career assignment begin. CPT/OPT must relate to their degree and be authorized by their university. Students are responsible for securing this approval through their school’s international office.