At Skip-Line, your next hydraulic circuit will hit the highway.

Pressure. Flow. Smart controls. Machines that move. An industry ready for its next big leap. If you're a hydraulics expert and your idea of a good engineering problem involves making a real machine do something better, keep reading.

At Skip-Line, we build the brains behind modern pavement marking equipment. Our electronic controls, sensors, and embedded software turn paint trucks into autonomous precision machines that mark highways, roads, and runways smarter, with less waste and better data.

We’re the leading technology company in an industry most people drive past without thinking about. Look closer: there’s hydraulic power, precise actuation, real-time control, and a whole lot of engineering between “put paint on pavement” and “get it right at speed.” And we’re hiring a hands-on, hydraulics-savvy Mechanical Engineer to help build what’s next.

Job Location: Adams Center, NY* (see details below)

*Must reside in Northern or Central New York regions with the ability to commute to our office on a hybrid schedule.

Base salary: $78,000 - $130,000, based on experience and demonstrated capabilities.

What You’ll Do:

You’ll own the hydraulic and mechanical side of our smart pavement marking machines, from the first schematic to the finished system ready to roll out on a paint truck. You’ll collaborate with our talented electrical, embedded, product, and production teams. Here’s what that involves:

Design hydraulic systems from the ground up: You’ll develop schematics, size and select pumps, valves, cylinders, and design custom manifolds that are compact, cost-effective, and easy to build.
Bring electro-hydraulics to life: You’ll work with our electrical and embedded engineers to integrate proportional valves, sensors, and electronic controls, so the machine does exactly what the software asks in the field.
Take it from CAD to pavement: You’ll create models, drawings, and BOMs with tolerances that hold up in production, build prototypes in our shop, and test and refine based on what the machine does in the real-world.
Make the call. You’ll weigh off-the-shelf against custom, explain the tradeoffs among performance, cost, and release timing, and know when to decide independently and when to bring in the right expertise.
Drive what’s next: You’ll lead Skip-Line into new machines and new markets, from water blasters and grinders to adjacent industries where smart hydraulics can change the game.
Find the cause, not just the symptom. Troubleshoot inconsistent performance and system interactions through measurement, practical testing, and sound engineering judgment.
Make the next build better. You’ll partner with production teams on manufacturability, assembly, and serviceability, so every new design is easier to build, test, and fix.

A great design earns its place on the truck. Your work won’t stop at road striping. You’ll help lead Skip-Line into new markets.

What You Bring:

A Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.
A minimum of 4 years ha nds-on hydraulics experience. What you’ve built matters more than your title.
Hydraulic system design experience is a must-have: schematics, component sizing and selection, and custom manifold design.
Hands-on controls experience: you understand how hydraulics and electronic control systems work together.
Strong CAD and drawing skills, with a real feel for tolerances, fits, and how parts get built, assembled, and maintained.
Comfort in the shop and in the field: prototyping, testing, and measuring real hardware
A methodical debugging habit: gather evidence, isolate the cause, fix it, and verify the fix
Ownership, sound judgment, and clear communication

Hydraulic expertise is the heart of this role. We’re looking for someone who can help us make better decisions in-house, work effectively with suppliers and partners, and remove uncertainty from projects that depend on hydraulic performance.

Never been near a paint truck? No problem. Bring your engineering curiosity. We’ll introduce you to the trucks.

Why Skip-Line?

Real technology. Visible impact. Our lineup spans precision striping controls, cloud-connected data logging, and laser-based material monitoring. Your work helps crews do a difficult job better.
A tight team where your ideas ship. You won’t be a cog. You’ll decide what goes on our machines, challenge assumptions, and help shape better products alongside an innovative, collaborative team.
Modern tools, real judgment. Use AI and modern tooling freely. Just understand the system and own the result.
Benefits that support life beyond the bench. Health, dental, and vision insurance; a 401(k) with company match; paid vacation and sick time; and a paid week off at Christmas.
Established leadership. Continuous Innovation. We’ve been advancing pavement-marking technology since 1969. We’re not done inventing.

Build something worth putting on the road.

Send your resume to hr@skipline.com with “Mechanical Engineer — Skip-Line” in the subject line.

Want to stand out? Include a few sentences about a hydraulic problem you solved: what went wrong, how you found it, and what you changed. A project link is welcome. Please don’t share confidential work.

The road ahead needs better technology. Help us build it.

Skip-Line is an equal opportunity employer. We prohibit discrimination and harassment and consider applicants without regard to protected characteristics under applicable federal, state, and local law.

Skip-Line

Mechanical Engineer

About the Job