Strategic Design Engineering, Global Supply Manager - Mechanicals

Apple; Cupertino (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple’s Beats Organization seeks a cost-focused mechanical engineer to guide design for manufacturability, manage cost BOMs, and develop sustainable sourcing strategies across cross-functional teams.

You will collaborate with engineering, supply partners, and operations to optimize cost, quality, capacity, and long-term competitiveness, with occasional international travel.

Qualifications

• BS in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering or related engineering field.
• Intimate knowledge/understanding of a typical stage/gate product development process.
• Strong technical background with understanding of manufacturing processes to materialize design, assembly and testing at scale.
• Factory experience related to forming and finishing processes for plastics, composites, and metal; FATP experience.
• Deep expertise with “should cost” modeling and maintaining a costed BOM.
• Strong PM skills; ability to manage wide and diverse activities with stakeholders.
• Excellent presentation and interpersonal skills in multinational environments.
• Willingness to travel ~20% international, ~30% domestic.

Responsibilities

• Engage with engineering teams to drive architecture towards cost targets and assess alternatives.
• Collaborate with early development supplier partners to balance cost and architecture.
• Propose alternative manufacturing processes, materials, and designers to optimize cost.
• Manage overall mechanicals cost BOM and push for cost-optimized substitutes.
• Coordinate with Ops to assess FATP impact and downstream effects on cost.
• Identify supplier partners to ensure product quality, supply, and long-term cost-competitiveness.
• Develop supplier relationships to align with strategic needs and drive cost-reduction projects.
• Liaise between cross-functional teams and GSM to support quality, capacity, and supply.

Skills

Strong PM skills

Presentation skills

Interpersonal skills

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

MBA (preferred)

Job description

Summary

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.We are part of Apple’s Beats Org and will work closely with cross-functional teams to help launch innovative yet cost-efficient products on ambitious timelines.Mechanical components define the look, feel and expression of Beats’ unique brand within Apple; they are also integral to product performance and reliability. This role will be directly responsible for working with engineering to guide design for manufacturability and cost, defining sustainable sourcing strategy by factoring in cross-functional inputs, and developing robust working relationships with internal (cross-functional) and external (supplier) partners towards helping execute for cost, quality, capacity, supply.

Description

• Engage with engineering teams during early product development phases to drive overall architecture towards the right cost by providing quick feedback on baseline architecture, challenging teams on underlying assumptions, and helping identify and evaluate alternatives
• Where relevant, work with early development supplier partners to help define overall architecture, while still balancing for cost
• Investigate and propose alternative manufacturing processes, materials, designs, and suppliers that optimize cost for our x-functional engineering partners
• Manage overall mechanicals cost BOM, and influence cross-functional teams to validate and implement creative alternatives needed to meet cost target
• Collaborate closely with partners in Ops to understand down-stream (FATP) impact of upstream design decisions, and work closely with Engineering teams and supplier partners to optimize
• Identify the right supplier partners to work with (and think broadly, about the right strategy) to secure product quality, supply, and long-term cost-competitiveness, all on an aggressive, timeline
• Develop supplier relationships to “train” vendor mind-sets to align with strategic organizational needs
• Identify and drive “special projects” related to costs, and develop into scalable cost solutions that can be applied across various Apple products over time
• Liaise between operational cross-functional teams and operations-focused GSM teammates as needed, to support quality, capacity, and supply

Minimum Qualifications

BS in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering or related engineering fieldIntimate knowledge / understanding of a typical stage/gate product development processStrong technical background, with an ability to quickly understand various aspects of a product’s design, and the manufacturing processes necessary to materialize the design, and assembly and testing steps needed to execute it at scaleFactory experience, particularly related to forming and finishing processes related to plastics, composites, and metal. FATP experience, ideally within consumer electronicsDeep expertise with “should cost” modeling and developing (and maintaining) a costed BOMStrong PM-ing skills… ability to manage wide and diverse activities with disparate stakeholders, by focusing on key deliverables and effectively driving next stepsExcellent presentation and interpersonal skills, capable of working in multinational environmentsExcellent soft skills; flexibility to adapt to dynamic and rapidly changing environmentsAbility to travel ~20% internationally, ~30% domestically

Preferred Qualifications

BSME, or equivalent. MBA a plusProduct design exposure or experience, with a deep interest in designing for costManaging a costed BOM during early product architecture. Ability to identify, manage, and drive Opportunities and RisksExperience working across functions (Industrial design, Product design, Manufacturing design, Operations), and with suppliers… ability to influence across multi-functional teamsTop-notch analytical skills, with ability to toggle between detail-orientated and strategic, large-picture thinking“Team lead” experience, guiding / leading less experienced teammates within subject matter area