Manufacturing Design Engineer- Soft Goods

Apple Inc.; Cupertino (CA); On-site; USD 128,400 - 236,700; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical and dental coverage

Retirement benefits

Educational reimbursement

Job summary

Apple Inc. is seeking a Manufacturing Design Engineer in Cupertino, California to manage manufacturing processes for soft goods. This role requires a BS in Mechanical Engineering and 7+ years of experience in product launches, focusing on mechanical and tooling aspects.

The successful candidate will lead experiments, assess fabrication technologies, and ensure compatibility with design specifications. Comprehensive benefits and a competitive salary based on qualifications and experience are offered.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in new product launches from a mechanical, tooling, or product development perspective.
• Experience with mechanical fabricated parts, adhesives, and plastics required.
• Experience leading suppliers in developing manufacturing processes.

Responsibilities

• Manage selection and implementation of manufacturing processes for soft goods products.
• Lead experiments for design and supply chain decisions.
• Assess technology suitability for part designs.

Skills

Mechanical engineering

Design of Experiments (DOE)

Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T)

Statistical Process Control (SPC)

Education

BS in Mechanical Engineering or related field

Tools

Injection molding

Fixture tooling

Job description

Manufacturing Design Engineer – Soft Goods

Cupertino, California, United States – Operations and Supply Chain

Imagine what you could do here. At Apple, new ideas have a way of becoming extraordinary products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Bring passion and dedication to your job and there’s no telling what you could accomplish. The people here at Apple don’t just create products — they create the kind of wonder that’s revolutionized entire industries. It’s the diversity of those people and their ideas that inspires the innovation that runs through everything we do, from amazing technology to industry‑leading environmental efforts. Join Apple, and help us leave the world better than we found it.

Description

In this highly visible role, you will manage selection, implementation, optimization, and scale up of manufacturing processes for our legendary soft goods products. You will utilize your mechanical engineering experience and work across multi‑functional teams in Product Design and Industrial Design to assess product features for manufacturability and recommend capable processes and equipment.

Responsibilities

• Process Development: Planning, proposing, and leading experiments to produce timely and accurate analyses used to drive design, development, and supply chain decisions.
• Assessing the suitability of a fabrication technology for a given part design. Planning validation exercises to demonstrate initial feasibility as well as manufacturing capability. Analyzing results of validation exercises and providing technical recommendations.
• New Product Introduction: Acts as lead engineer to drive process development and capability assessment activities, reviewing part design documentation to ensure alignment with process capability.
• Assigns specific tasks and works with Apple suppliers to support process development and/or data gathering activities. Sets clear goals for results and provides timely reviews of performance throughout the program.
• Establish validation procedures to determine acceptance of tooling into development builds as well as mass production.
• Review supplier tool design, process flow, equipment selection, DFM, and DOE proposals. Identifies shortfalls and corrective actions to ensure design compliance.
• Work with supplier engineering teams to map out process development exercises, secure resources, and commit to schedules in line with program goals.
• Assess supplier readiness to support build events and production ramp. Identifies potential execution issues and provides recommendations to mitigate risk.

Minimum Qualifications

• BS in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience supporting new product launches from a mechanical, tooling, or product development perspective.
• Experience with mechanical fabricated parts or adhesives, glues, jigs, fixtures, tooling, injection molding, plastics experience is required.
• Deep experience applying Design of Experiments (DOE), Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T), and Statistical Process Control (SPC) techniques.
• Experience leading suppliers’ technical team in the development and qualification of manufacturing processes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience solving complex mechanical or manufacturing challenges.
• International experience, particularly in Asia.
• Experience with highly cosmetic parts.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Compensation and Benefits

Base pay range: $128,400 to $236,700, depending on skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Apple employees can become shareholders through discretionary stock programs, purchase stock at a discount, and may receive discretionary bonuses or commission payments as well as relocation assistance. Benefits include comprehensive medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits, discounted products and free services, and educational expense reimbursements for tuition.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Apple is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We seek to promote equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics.

Accessibility

Apple believes accessibility is a fundamental human right. Learn about accessibility in Apple’s workplace and reasonable accommodations for job applicants.