Director of Engineering

Molex; Lisle (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Molex CES in Lisle, IL is seeking a Director of Engineering to define the technical strategy for Connected Enterprise Solutions and lead a high-performing team through a period of strategic growth. The role drives fiber connectivity advancements and portfolio performance across Enterprise and Data Center markets.

You will build and coach an engineering organization, balance innovation with sustaining programs, and work cross-functionally with Product Management, Sales, Operations, and Supply

Qualifications

• 5 to 7+ years of engineering leadership experience.
• Led a team through change and built culture.
• Track record of delivering manufacturable products from concept to launch.
• Operationally disciplined, balancing long-cycle innovation with sustaining/qualification programs.
• Driven by outcomes and accountable for results.

Responsibilities

• Set engineering strategy and roadmaps across sustaining, qualification, and innovation engineering.
• Protect portfolio through disciplined sustaining engineering and lifecycle management.
• Accelerate the integration of fiber-led solutions for enterprise and hyperscale data centers.
• Lead delivery of new products from concept through launch and own outcomes.
• Collaborate with Product, Sales, Operations, and Supply Chain to ground programs in customer needs.

Skills

Leadership

Team building

Strategic planning

Fiber technologies

Cross-functional collaboration

Operations management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Advanced degree

Job description

Director of Engineering - Connected Enterprise Solutions

Molex CES | Lisle, IL | On-site | Travel:10-15%(Global)

Your Job

Molex's Connected Enterprise Solutions business is entering a period of strategic growth. With data centers expanding rapidly to support infrastructure and enterprise networks undergoing significant modernization, CES occupies a critical position in the connectivity market, delivering comprehensive copper and fiber infrastructure solutions supported by Molex's global engineering capabilities and a legacy of manufacturing excellence.

The Director of Engineering will play a central role in defining the technical strategy of CES, leading a team with established strengths and the opportunity to drive meaningful advancement in fiber connectivity and broader portfolio performance across Enterprise and Data Center markets.

What You Will Lead

• Set engineering strategy - Define and own priorities across sustaining, qualification, and innovation engineering. Translate market signals and business objectives into a clear, sequenced roadmap that the team can execute against.
• Protect what's working - Ensure the stability, quality, and lifecycle performance of an established product portfolio through disciplined sustaining engineering.
• Accelerate what's next - Drive qualification and integration of new technologies, with a sharp focus on fiber-led solutions for enterprise and hyperscale data center applications.
• Build the pipeline - Lead delivery of new products from concept through launch. Own the outcomes - commercially and technically.
• Be a cross-functional partner - Work closely with Product Management, Sales, Operations, and Supply Chain to ensure engineering programs are grounded in customer needs and market reality.
• Develop the team - Build a capable, accountable engineering organization that combines technical depth with a strong ownership mindset. Coach individuals at different stages of their careers.
• Contribute to business leadership - Serve as a key member of the CES leadership team, bringing an engineering lens to broader business strategy and decisions.
• Lead with business and financial acumen - Manage engineering resources and investments with an ownership mindset, making sound trade-off decisions that balance innovation, execution, risk, cost, and long-term value creation. Partner with business leaders to ensure technical priorities support profitable growth and strategic objectives.

Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)

• 5 to 7+ years of engineering leadership experience, ideally in connectivity, physical layer infrastructure, or an adjacent hardware/technology domain.
• You've led a team through change. Whether that's building from scratch, integrating new technology, or shifting a team's culture, you've done it, and you know the difference between managing the org chart and actually leading people.
• Proven at building and running teams, including teams in transition or earlier stages of maturity. You know how to establish culture, not just inherit it.
• Track record of product delivery, you've shipped products that customers buy. You understand what it takes to get from concept to qualified, manufacturable solutions.
• Operationally disciplined, comfortable balancing long-cycle innovation work with the cadence of sustaining and qualification programs running in parallel.
• Driven by outcomes, not activity. You hold yourself and others accountable to results.

What Will Put You Ahead

• Deep expertise in fiber technologies, including pre-terminated systems, high-density fiber, splicing, and/or emerging data center fiber architectures.
• Experience integrating acquired or market-ready technologies into an existing product portfolio.
• Familiarity with enterprise structured cabling standards or data center infrastructure standards.
• Experience working within or alongside a global manufacturing and supply chain organization.
• Bachelor's degree and/or advanced degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Optical Engineering, or related technical discipline.

Hiring Philosophy

All Koch companies value diversity of thought, perspectives, aptitudes, experiences, and backgrounds. We are Military Ready and Second Chance employers. Learn more about our hiring philosophy here.

Who We Are

Molex CES delivers high-performance copper and fiber infrastructure for enterprise buildings and data centers globally. Our product portfolio spans structured cabling, pre-terminated fiber systems, and high-density data center solutions, all supported by Molex's global manufacturing and supply chain capabilities.

You’ll be leading an engineering team in a business unit with real commercial momentum, meaningful product complexity, and the backing of a global organization (Molex is a Koch Industries company).

At Koch, employees are empowered to do what they do best to make life better. Learn how our business philosophy helps employees unleash their potential while creating value for themselves and the company.

Our Benefits

Our goal is for each employee, and their families, to live fulfilling and healthy lives. We provide essential resources and support to build and maintain physical, financial, and emotional strength - focusing on overall wellbeing so you can focus on what matters most. Our benefits plan includes - medical, dental, vision, flexible spending and health savings accounts, life insurance, ADD, disability, retirement, paid vacation/time off, educational assistance, and may also include infertility assistance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance. Specific eligibility criteria is set by the applicable Summary Plan Description, policy or guideline and benefits may vary by geographic region.

Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.

Equal Opportunities

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. Except where prohibited by state law, some offers of employment are conditioned upon successfully passing a drug test. This employer uses E-Verify.

Relocation benefits may be provided. Candidates must be authorized to work in the U.S. without current or future sponsorship

For this role, we anticipate paying $180,000 - $200,000 per year. This role is eligible for variable pay, issued as a monetary bonus or in another form.

At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location.