Product Validation Engineer II: Design & Test Innovator

YETI Coolers, LLC; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

YETI is seeking a Product Validation Engineer to develop tests for new products and to collaborate with design engineers to create DFMEA, validation plans, and robust test protocols. You will work with engineering, operations, quality, labs, and product management to ensure testing delivers actionable results.

The role requires deep knowledge of mechanical design, lab testing, and data-driven decision making, with international travel around 5%.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Material Science, Chemistry or similar area of study preferred.
• At least 5 years of design qualification experience.
• Advanced knowledge of industry standards for design and test of products.
• Strong technical background in heat transfer, impact, vibration, abrasion, environmental, life-cycle testing and material validation.
• Root Cause Analysis experience in mixed material product assemblies.
• Experience building test equipment to support thermal, mechanical, repetitive motion and other testing.
• Proficient with electronic and mechanical test equipment.
• Excellent communication and technical writing skills.
• Proficient in reading and producing schematics/drawings with CAD tools (SolidWorks preferred).

Responsibilities

• Generate well-designed tests rooted in consumer expectations and use cases.
• Support tests with statistical analysis to define severity relative to consumer use.
• Document procedures so global lab partners can run tests.
• Serve as a product validation expert on project teams.
• Apply mechanical design principles and lab equipment knowledge to simulate consumer behavior.
• Convert customer use cases to test protocols and requirements.
• Collaborate with analytics, industrial design and product management to collect usage data.
• Determine testing baselines by understanding target consumer and potential misuses.

Skills

Test design

Statistical analysis

Design validation

Lab equipment

Technical writing

Schematics/drawings

CAD - SolidWorks

Office suite

Product design

FEA

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

JMP

Minitab

Job description

YETI is seeking a Product Validation Engineer to develop tests for new products and to collaborate with design engineers to create DFMEA, validation plans, and robust test protocols. You will work with engineering, operations, quality, labs, and product management to ensure testing delivers actionable results.

The role requires deep knowledge of mechanical design, lab testing, and data-driven decision making, with international travel around 5%.