Product Development Engineer

Midea America; Louisville (KY); On-site; USD 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Midea America Corp. seeks a Product Development Engineer to lead electrical, electronics, and embedded software work within a mechanically focused product team. You will define and validate laundry product specs for the NA market and support the China-based R&D team through the full product lifecycle.

This full-time, on-site role requires interfacing with mechanical engineers, performing prototype verification, and solving root-cause issues across electrical, software, and mechanical domains.

Qualifications

• Solid foundation in electrical engineering with practical mechanical integration.
• Experience writing code in C/C++ or Python for microcontrollers, test control, and data acquisition.
• Hands-on lab skills to build/test benches, wire sensors/actuators, and use electrical test equipment.

Responsibilities

• Define and validate new laundry product specs for North America, including electrical, controls, and software behavior.
• Translate consumer habits and competitive landscape into testable engineering requirements.
• Maintain knowledge of North American standards and regulations for laundry appliances.
• Communicate requirements to China-based R&D teams and verify prototype conformity through testing.
• Set up automated lab test benches and write control/data-acquisition code.
• Support field tests and contribute to future product improvements.

Skills

Electrical engineering

C/C++

Python

Lab test benches

UART communication

Mechanical integration

Analytical thinking

Clear communication

Standards knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related discipline

Tools

Oscilloscopes

Multimeters

Raspberry Pi

Arduino

Job description

Midea America Corp., is one of the world’s largest home appliance brands, offering the most comprehensive selection of products in the world to fully serve the needs of day-to-day living at home, at work, or anywhere else you go. In North America we strive to aim high, put the customer first, transform and innovate the marketplace, utilizing our commitment, dedication, inclusion, and partnership with our teams. Midea America is a subsidiary of the Midea Group, a global company with over 150,000 employees and operations in more than 195 countries. As a publicly listed company, we are ranked #245 as a Fortune Global 500 company and offer one of the most comprehensive product portfolios in the industry.

Job Summary

The Product Development Engineer brings electrical, electronics, and embedded software expertise to a mechanically focused product development team. The role is responsible for defining and validating new laundry product specifications for the North American market, and for supporting the China-based R&D team through the full product development lifecycle. This role starts upstream of design — establishing functional and performance requirements through competitor benchmarking, product performance testing, and a strong understanding of North American consumer habits, attitudes, competitive landscape, and applicable standards and regulations — and stays engaged through prototype verification, root-cause problem solving, and field test support. As the team's go-to resource for electrical and controls topics, this engineer works side by side with mechanical engineers, helping the team understand how electronics and software affect product performance, while bringing a systems-engineering mindset and a practical understanding of the mechanical side of the product.

This position is full-time and fully on-site. Given the peaks-and-valleys nature of NPI work (New Product Introduction), this engineer will also have periodic bandwidth to contribute to future product improvement concepts and new capabilities.

Duties/Responsibilities

• Define new product specifications for the North American market through competitor benchmarking, product performance testing, and evaluation — covering functional and performance requirements, including electrical, controls, and software behavior alongside physical and mechanical aspects.
• Translate North American consumer habits, attitudes, and the competitive landscape into concrete, testable engineering requirements.
• Maintain working knowledge of North American standards and regulations relevant to laundry appliances, including electrical safety requirements, and ensure specifications and engineering solutions reflect those requirements.
• Document and clearly communicate engineering requirements to R&D engineering teams in China, ensuring requirements are correctly understood and translated into design.
• Serve as the team's electrical and controls resource throughout all project phases, reviewing electrical designs and control behavior with R&D and explaining their impact to mechanical engineering colleagues.
• Verify that functional prototypes adhere to proposed specifications through structured testing and evaluation as they become available.
• Identify problems and perform root cause analysis on design or performance issues, working with mechanical teammates to determine whether a problem comes from the mechanical, electrical, or software side; propose corrective solutions and track validation and implementation through resolution.
• Set up automated lab test benches to control and monitor product inputs and outputs, incorporating sensors, data-log shields, and microcontroller platforms such as Raspberry Pi and Arduino.
• Write control and data-acquisition code (C/C++ or Python) to support automated test setups and data analysis, including UART serial communication with product control boards to monitor and log data.
• Support execution of field tests, including logistics, data collection, and results analysis.
• Contribute to future product improvement concepts — enhanced or new features and capabilities.

Required Skills/Abilities

• Solid foundation in electrical engineering and electronics, with a practical understanding of mechanical systems and how the two work together in a finished product.
• Experience writing code in C/C++ or Python for microcontrollers, test control, and data acquisition, including UART serial communication.
• Hands-on lab skills: able to build and operate test benches, wire up sensors and actuators, use common electrical test equipment such as multimeters and oscilloscopes, and work safely with line-powered appliances.
• Ability to explain electrical and software concepts in plain terms to mechanical engineers and other non-electrical colleagues.
• Collaborative and team-oriented; comfortable being the electrical and controls voice on a mechanically focused team, and eager to learn mechanical design and testing practices in return.
• Strong analytical and root-cause problem-solving skills.
• Working knowledge of North American home appliance standards and regulations and how they shape engineering decisions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate requirements clearly for a globally distributed R&D team, including cross-cultural and cross-time-zone collaboration with colleagues in China.
• Comfortable working directly with functional prototypes and running structured verification/validation testing.
• Organized and detail-oriented, capable of managing multiple concurrent project phases.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working on multidisciplinary product teams alongside mechanical engineers.
• Experience with electromechanical products, such as appliances, where motors, sensors, and controls interact with mechanical systems.
• Prior experience with competitor benchmarking or product teardown analysis.
• Experience collaborating with international or remote R&D teams.
• Exposure to consumer research or collaboration with a Consumer & Market Insights (CMI) team.
• Master's degree in a relevant engineering discipline.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related discipline.
• 3–6 years of product engineering or product development experience with an electrical or embedded focus, ideally in consumer appliances or another regulated consumer products industry.

Disclaimer

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

EEO Statement

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. All employment is decided based on qualifications, merit, and business need.