Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or 5+ years of relevant experience.
2-5 years of experience in product development/design.
Experience with high-speed connectors and cable assemblies using SolidWorks or similar CAD software.
Strong technical problem-solving skills in complex environments.
Ability to create and deliver compelling technical presentations.
Excellent organizational skills for managing multiple projects simultaneously.
Willingness to travel to customer and ODM sites as needed.
Responsibilities
Engage with customers to select optimal cable solutions from the product portfolio.
Provide technical guidance on product selection and integration best practices.
Design custom cable configurations and document them with detailed engineering drawings.
Help customers architect compute trays for optimal hardware layout and cable routing.
Provide onsite support during early build phases at customer locations.
Conduct technical presentations and training sessions for customers.
Manage multiple concurrent projects and report regular updates.
Benefits
Opportunity to work on unique and proprietary high-speed custom cable assemblies.
Engagement with customers to directly influence product development.
Access to global engineering capabilities for collaborative projects.
Potential for travel to diverse customer and ODM sites.
Involvement in patent requests to protect intellectual property.
Full Job Description
Position: Application Development Engineer/Cable Development Engineer
Location: Santa Clara, CA or Seattle, WA
The Application Development Engineer will participate in the design and development of unique and/or proprietary high-speed custom cable assemblies which will integrate into the customer's system. These products are developed in response to specific customer application needs.
Role & Responsibilities
Customer Engagement & Product Selection:
Work closely with customers to ensure they select the best cable solutions from our portfolio for their application.
Provide technical guidance on product selection, system architecture, and integration best practices.
Push back on customer design decisions when necessary to maintain optimal cable performance.
Share lessons learned, highlighting potential problem areas and best practices.
Custom Design & Engineering Documentation:
Design custom cable configurations if needed and document designs with detailed engineering drawings.
Develop and validate mockup systems with mock cables to demonstrate the best architecture.
System Architecture & Cable Management:
Help customers architect their compute trays for optimal hardware layout and cable routing.
Design cable management systems to ensure proper routing and performance.
Develop tools for cable installation and removal.
Technical Support & Knowledge Sharing:
Provide onsite support at customer and ODM locations during early build phases.
Conduct technical presentations and training sessions to coach customers on correct product usage.
Provide technical support to Sales and marketing personnel including technical training, presentations and customer visits.
Stay abreast of technological developments in the connector and interconnection industries.
Apply patent request when applicable in order to protect intellectual property.
Project Management & Collaboration:
Participate in multiple weekly conference calls with customers, ODMs, and internal teams throughout the development process (typically lasting a few months per project).
Manage 10-12 concurrent projects, ensuring timely support and execution.
Draw on the global engineering capabilities of other Divisions for collaborative interconnect product development initiatives to serve a total interconnect solution to the customer.
Report regular project updates.
Required Skills & Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering (preferred) or 5+ years of relevant experience.
2-5 years of experience in product development/design minimum
Preferred experience designing and developing high speed connectors, cable assemblies and cable assembly systems using SolidWorks or other CAD system.
Strong technical problem-solving skills and ability to initiate discussions in highly technical environments.
Analytical reasoning and problem solving.
Experience with mechanical design and engineering documentation.
Ability to create and deliver compelling technical presentations.
Strong organizational skills to handle multiple projects simultaneously.
Excellent communication skills and ability to push back on suboptimal design choices while maintaining strong customer relationships.
Willingness to travel to customer and ODM sites as needed, travel will vary with customer program schedules, but expect travel of 2 - 3 weeks per quarter.
