Principal Controls Design Engineer
Automate your job search with Sonara.
Submit 10x as many applications with less effort than one manual application.1
Reclaim your time by letting our AI handle the grunt work of job searching.
We continuously scan millions of openings to find your top matches.

Overview
Job Description
Career Area:
Engineering
Job Description:
Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.
When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do - but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here - we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.
Role Definition
Designs, develops, builds, and implements new components, products, or technologies in a self directed manner. Technical expertise with ability to lead projects and mentor others.
Responsibilities
- Creates new designs and resolves manufacturing or operational issues, for complex components and systems. Ensuring design acceptance, manufacturing producibility, and validation. Develop project scope to address business challenges and opportunities.
- Applying and developing new technologies and process improvements to achieve greater efficiency, cost reduction and quality improvement.
- Define and implement engineering procedures to make the product or process more reliable, efficient and cost-effective. Understanding functional requirements and translating into detail design documents.
- Leading collaboration with all functional areas to provide a design solution that meets the requirements of the enterprise partners and customers.
- Requires a degree in an accredited Engineering, Computer Science, or Materials Science curriculum.
Degree Requirement
Degree required
Skill Descriptors
Analytical Thinking: Knowledge of techniques and tools that promote effective analysis; ability to determine the root cause of organizational problems and create alternative solutions that resolve these problems.
Level Working Knowledge:
- Approaches a situation or problem by defining the problem or issue and determining its significance.
- Makes a systematic comparison of two or more alternative solutions.
- Uses flow charts, Pareto charts, fish diagrams, etc. to disclose meaningful data patterns.
- Uses logic and intuition to make inferences about the meaning of the data and arrive at conclusions.
- Identifies the major forces, events, and people impacting and impacted by the situation at hand.
Decision Making and Critical Thinking: Knowledge of the decision-making process and associated tools and techniques; ability to accurately analyze situations and reach productive decisions based on informed judgment.
Level Extensive Experience:
- Differentiates assumptions, perspectives, and historical frameworks.
- Evaluates past decisions for insights to improve decision-making process.
- Assesses and validates decision options and points and predicts their potential impact.
- Advises others in analyzing and synthesizing relevant data and assessing alternatives.
- Uses effective decision-making approaches such as consultative, command, or consensus.
- Ensures that assumptions and received wisdom are objectively analyzed in decisions.
Effective Communications: Understanding of effective communication concepts, tools and techniques; ability to effectively transmit, receive, and accurately interpret ideas, information, and needs through the application of appropriate communication behaviors.
Level Working Knowledge:
- Delivers helpful feedback that focuses on behaviors without offending the recipient.
- Listens to feedback without defensiveness and uses it for own communication effectiveness.
- Makes oral presentations and writes reports needed for own work.
- Avoids technical jargon when inappropriate.
- Looks for and considers non-verbal cues from individuals and groups.
Managing Multiple Priorities: Knowledge of effective self-management practices; ability to manage multiple concurrent objectives, projects, groups, or activities, making effective judgments as to prioritizing and time allocation.
Level Working Knowledge:
- Recognizes changing demands and priorities; validates changes with management.
- Obtains information about how current assignments contribute to organizational goals.
- Completes current work according to assigned priorities.
- Responds to day-to-day operational priorities while still making progress on project work.
- Performs at least 2-3 concurrent activities without reducing productivity.
Technical Excellence: Knowledge of a given technology and various application methods; ability to develop and provide solutions to significant technical challenges.
Level Working Knowledge:
- Provides effective technical solutions to routine functional challenges via sound technical competence, effectively examining implications of events and issues.
- Effectively performs the technical job aspects, continuously building knowledge and keeping up-to-date on technical and procedural job components.
- Applies technical operating and project standards based on achieving excellence in delivered products, technologies and services.
- Applies current procedures and technologies to help resolve technical issues in one's general area of technical competence.
- Helps others solve technical or procedural problems or issues.
Design Engineering: Knowledge of designing and engineering products and systems; ability to use principles of mathematics, science, and engineering to develop, analyze, and improve product or system specifications, functionality, and performance.
Level Extensive Experience:
- Develops detailed engineering designs and specifications.
- Evaluates and selects materials, equipment, and suppliers.
- Conducts feasibility studies and cost analyses to determine project feasibility.
- Designs and develops prototypes and tests to validate design concepts.
- Analyzes and interprets test data to identify design flaws and recommend improvements.
- Collaborates with cross-functional teams to ensure design meets project requirements and timelines.
Product Testing: Knowledge of product testing approaches, techniques and tools; ability to design, plan and execute testing strategies and tactics to ensure product quality at all stages of manufacturing.
Level Extensive Experience:
- Coordinates execution of test plans, including resources, strategy, schedules, processes and tools.
- Collaborates with design team to ensure testing considerations are incorporated into system design.
- Recommends tools and techniques for automating, simplifying and enhancing product testing.
- Compares and contrasts alternative testing methodologies and tools.
- Matches testing methodology and tools to product being tested; develops test scenarios and scripts.
- Estimates time, effort and resources required for thorough testing.
Product Design and Development: Knowledge of product features; ability to design, build, and develop a new product, technology, or service from concept through to production.
Level Working Knowledge:
- Builds three-dimensional models with basic materials.
- Communicates with professionals to understand various requirements of product design.
- Tests and evaluates alternative means of production being considered for use.
- Uses automated tools to design or modify the design of a product.
- Assists in building a complex prototype of product.
This Job Description is intended as a general guide to the job duties for this position and is intended for the purpose of establishing the specific salary grade. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as an exhaustive summary of all responsibilities, duties and effort required of employees assigned to this job. At the discretion of management, this description may be changed at any time to address the evolving needs of the organization. It is expressly not intended to be a comprehensive list of "essential job functions" as that term is defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Summary Pay Range:
$120,660.00 - $180,900.00
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. This employer is not currently hiring foreign national applicants that require or will require sponsorship tied to a specific employer, such as, H, L, TN, F, J, E, O. As a global company, Caterpillar offers many job opportunities outside of the U.S which can be found through our employment website at www.caterpillar.com/careers.
Posting Dates:
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.
Not ready to apply? Join our Talent Community.
Automate your job search with Sonara.
Submit 10x as many applications with less effort than one manual application.
