{"id":2934154,"url":"https://alion.io/job/whisker-mechanical-engineering-manager","title":"Mechanical Engineering Manager","company":{"id":1982605,"name":"Whisker","domain":"whisker.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/whisker-com","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Paylocity","truth_index":null},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"lead","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Auburn Hills, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":99000,"max_usd":200000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":1829},"experience_years_min":10,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"AI Agents","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-20T15:07:44Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-20","last_verified_at":"2026-10-22T08:01:30Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":1},"description":"Description\nWhisker is redefining what it means to live with cats-designing intelligent systems that remove friction, elevate the everyday, and celebrate the quiet brilliance of feline companionship. Today, Litter-Robot leads the category. Tomorrow, an entire ecosystem that expands what’s possible for cats and the people who love them. We believe the future is feline. And we’re imagining that future today.\nWe work onsite 4+ days a week, with our team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and Juneau, Wisconsin. Our team of 700+ passionate pet people thrives on collaboration, innovation, and the occasional office cameo from a four-legged friend.\nWhat You’ll Do:\nWhisker is seeking a Mechanical Engineering Manager to lead the team behind our innovative pet products. In this role, you’ll guide a talented group of mechanical engineers through every stage of development, from concept and prototyping to testing and production, while setting the design standards that keep our products reliable, manufacturable, and built to last. You’ll partner closely with industrial design, electrical engineering, manufacturing, and product management, and invest in your team’s growth through coaching and development. If you’re an experienced engineering leader who thrives on solving complex challenges (and doesn’t mind a friendly feline or two around the office), we’d love to meet you.\n Essential Duties and Responsibilities\nThis list of duties and responsibilities is not all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties and responsibilities as deemed necessary.\nLeads mechanical engineering from concept and architecture through prototyping, engineering validation, design validation, production validation, and launch.\nDefines mechanical design strategies and measurable requirements; guides tradeoffs among performance, reliability, cost, schedule, and industrial design intent.\nSets clear team goals and accountability, coaches engineers, and escalates risks with recommended actions and recovery plans.\nPartners with industrial design, electrical engineering, firmware, manufacturing, quality, and product management to resolve system interfaces and integration issues.\nEnsures robust designs for molded plastics, electronics packaging, and motor-driven mechanisms; reviews materials, processes, tolerances, and assembly methods.\nPlans mechanical engineering staffing, skills, and external support; prioritizes work across programs and communicates resource gaps and schedule impacts.\nDrives root-cause analysis of development, production, and field issues; verifies corrective actions and incorporates lessons into future designs.\nLeads technical reviews, first-principles analysis, tolerance analysis, and design failure mode and effects analysis (DFMEA) to identify and retire risks early.\nPartners with test and reliability teams to define mechanical verification plans, review results, and close issues before tooling release and production.\nUses benchmarking, prototypes, and experiments to evaluate concepts and improve performance, cost, and customer experience.\nPartners with suppliers and manufacturing to review tooling, support development builds, and resolve assembly, yield, and production readiness issues.\nOwns mechanical part and tooling cost targets within approved budgets; evaluates cost reduction opportunities without compromising product requirements.\nEnsures CAD, drawings, bills of materials, and engineering changes are complete, reviewed, and controlled through PDM and PLM workflows.\nPerforms additional responsibilities as required.\nLeadership Responsibilities:\nDirectly supervises mechanical engineers and, where assigned, engineering leads or managers. Responsibilities include hiring, onboarding, setting expectations, assigning work, coaching, performance reviews, career development, and addressing team issues in accordance with Whisker policies. Builds a culture of technical rigor, urgency, collaboration, and accountability while upholding safety and quality expectations.\nRequirements\nWhat You’ll Bring:\nBS in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a closely related engineering discipline.\nSenior Manager: 10+ years of mechanical product development experience, including 5+ years of people management and demonstrated leadership across multiple concurrent programs or teams.\nDemonstrated ownership of mechanical development for consumer electronics, smart appliances, or comparable electromechanical products from concept to mass production.\nStrong practical expertise in injection-molded plastics, electronics packaging, and motor-driven mechanisms, including material selection and production failure modes.\nExperience working directly with domestic and overseas suppliers, toolmakers, and contract manufacturers on tooling, design reviews, and production readiness.\nProven ability to hire, develop, and retain engineers; provide candid feedback; and set clear expectations for technical quality and delivery.\nExperience establishing test plans, interpreting data, and using structured root-cause analysis to verify corrective actions.\nWorking knowledge of top-down CAD methods, complex assemblies, and surface modeling sufficient to guide and review team output.\nLed mechanical engineering execution through multiple product launches, including build support, issue closure, and production ramp.\nStrong knowledge of design for manufacturing and assembly (DFM/DFA), geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T), tolerance analysis, and engineering drawing practices.\nHigh proficiency in 3D Modeling with the ability to review CAD, drawings, and mechanical design decisions in detail.\nMaintains confidentiality of proprietary information.\nAbility to prioritize competing demands, make timely decisions with incomplete information, and communicate technical risks and tradeoffs clearly.\nDemonstrated ownership of commitments, sound engineering judgment, and a practical approach to process and continuous improvement.\nAbility to build effective working relationships and resolve disagreements constructively across functions and with suppliers.\nComfortable working in an office environment with cats and dogs.\n Not Required but Nice to Have!\nExperience integrating connected devices, sensors, cameras, seals, or thermal and acoustic requirements into consumer products.\nExperience with Creo 3D Modeling, Windchill product data management (PDM) and Arena product lifecycle management (PLM).\nExperience with design reuse, common platforms, or cost reduction across a product family.\nBenefits & Purrks:\nJoin a tenacious, inventive company that empowers team members to chart their own path, lead by grounding decisions in the “why”, and has a strong sense of empathy and openness to new perspectives. Be a part of exciting growth, work with incredible people, and create tomorrow’s pet products-plus a whole lot of extras. You will also be provided with:\nPremium Medical/Dental/Vision insurance\nPaid parental leave\nWhisker Parents Program\n1 day \"pawternity\" leave for new pet adoption\nPet Insurance Discount\n401K match\nFlexible spending accounts\nCompany-paid short-term disability and life insurance\nEmployee Assistance Program (EAP)\nGenerous paid time off\n14 Paid Holidays\nTop of the line equipment\nPet-friendly office\nWhisker products and swag\nContinuing education Support\nOn-site gym with Peloton\nReferral program\nStatement of Inclusivity:\nWe believe different perspectives make Whisker better and strive to create a place where everyone has equal opportunities to thrive.\nWhile Whisker is an AI-forward organization, we will not ask you to interview with an AI agent. We lead with a human first approach for hiring. We ask that you refrain from using an AI tools during any interview.\nPlease ensure to regularly check your email spam folder for any communication from Whisker to avoid missing important updates regarding your application status.","description_format":"text","description_chars":7899,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":10,"management_years_min":5,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["401k plan","Life insurance","Parental leave","Vision insurance"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Pet Food, Supplies & Care","Home Appliances"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-20T15:38:45Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":30,"reasons":["conf:2","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-22T06:10:10Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/whisker-mechanical-engineering-manager","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/whisker-mechanical-engineering-manager.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-22T09:09:42Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"assistant_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":1223,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-23T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":1982605},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1982605"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fwhisker-mechanical-engineering-manager"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fwhisker-mechanical-engineering-manager"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fwhisker-mechanical-engineering-manager"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/whisker-mechanical-engineering-manager\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fwhisker-mechanical-engineering-manager"}]}