Senior Optical Product Design Engineer

Molex; Fremont (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 225,000; Full time

Job summary

Molex is seeking a Senior Industrial Design Engineer in Fremont, CA to define product layout, appearance, and tactile experience for optical networking hardware lines. You will blend industrial design with human-centered principles to create premium, ergonomic interfaces for dense, thermally constrained environments.

You will collaborate closely with mechanical, hardware, and cross-functional teams to ensure visual and tactile fidelity across product families and scale.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Industrial Design, Mechanical or related technical field.
• At least 5 years of Industrial Design experience.
• Experience designing mechanical interfaces with look, feel, and tactile quality.
• Expert proficiency in SolidWorks for 3D modeling, assemblies, and detailed drawings.
• Experience with manufacturing processes and finishes affecting appearance and durability.

Responsibilities

• Design and standardize UI elements with appearance/quality goals (surface texture, alignment, perceived quality).
• Specify interfaces, define force curves, detents, travel and feedback for premium feel.
• Translate concepts into manufacturable mechanical solutions while preserving visual cues.
• Produce rapid prototypes to validate ergonomic performance and tactile fidelity.
• Plan usability evaluations to measure perceived quality and clarity of interactions.
• Create mechanical and cosmetic specs including materials, finishes, tolerances, and color/marking standards.
• Collaborate with Optical, Electrical, Thermal, Firmware, and Product teams to align performance with usability and visuals.
• Work with manufacturers to preserve look-and-feel at scale.
• Support reliability testing with appearance retention and wear resistance metrics.

Skills

Industrial design

Tactile quality

Human-centered design

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Industrial Design or Mechanical Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

Job description

Molex is seeking a Senior Industrial Design Engineer in Fremont, CA to define product layout, appearance, and tactile experience for optical networking hardware lines. You will blend industrial design with human-centered principles to create premium, ergonomic interfaces for dense, thermally constrained environments.

You will collaborate closely with mechanical, hardware, and cross-functional teams to ensure visual and tactile fidelity across product families and scale.