Position Title: Product Design Engineer, Launch – Global team
Location: Thang Long II IP, Hung Yen (Daily bus from Hanoi/ Hai Duong/ Bac Ninh)
MOLEX,
a brand under Koch Industries, headquartered in Lisle, Illinois (USA), is one of the world's leading interconnect solution providers.
Molex Vietnam has operated its first factory at Thang Long Industrial Park I since 2007. Currently, Molex is investing in a new factory complex located at Thang Long Industrial Park II in Hung Yen Province. The project has a total investment of approximately USD 145 million, covering an area of 100,000 m² and being developed in three phases. This facility will manufacture high-tech products such as high-speed cables, connectors, optical devices, and liquid cooling solutions.
Your Job
We are seeking an on-site Product Design Engineer who is proactive, accountable, eager to learn, and capable of driving technical execution in a manufacturing environment. This role supports new product introduction, design transfer, production ramp-up, and issue resolution at the Vietnam manufacturing site while serving as a key technical bridge between the Taiwan Design Center and Vietnam factory teams.
The ideal candidate will combine product design knowledge, manufacturing execution discipline, and strong cross-functional communication skills to help ensure that products are successfully launched into production with the required quality, schedule, cost, and manufacturability performance.
About the Role:
This position focuses on supporting product launch, manufacturing transfer, and production readiness for high-performance interconnect, thermal, and mechanical products at the Vietnam manufacturing site. You will play a critical role in identifying manufacturing risks, resolving build and production issues, coordinating technical actions across sites, and ensuring that design intent is effectively implemented on the production line.
What You Will Do
- NPI Execution and Production Ramp-up
- Lead NPI activities from design transfer through implementation at the Vietnam manufacturing site
- Coordinate prototype builds, pilot runs, validation builds, and production launch activities
- Monitor project milestones, deliverables, technical risks, and issue closure status
- Support achievement of CP milestones, production readiness gates, and mass production schedules
- Escalate critical technical or schedule risks in a timely manner with clear facts, impact assessment, and recommended next steps
- On-site Manufacturing and Technical Support
- Lead technical analysis and improvement activities for product assembly and manufacturing issues
- Provide on-site support for trial production, build events, line readiness, and production ramp-up
- Investigate product anomalies, assembly defects, process gaps, and manufacturing constraints
- Drive corrective actions through implementation and verify improvement effectiveness on the production line
- Support continuous improvement in manufacturing capacity, yield, quality, and operational efficiency
- Issue Resolution and Continuous Improvement
- Lead failure analysis, FACA, and root cause investigation activities for product and process issues
- Consolidate technical inputs from design, quality, production, suppliers, and other stakeholders
- Define and drive corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) to prevent issue recurrence
- Track action closure, verify effectiveness, and communicate improvement status to relevant stakeholders
- Document lessons learned and contributed to the engineering knowledge base for future projects
- Cross-functional Communication and Stakeholder Coordination
- Serve as the primary technical point of contact for the Vietnam manufacturing site
- Collaborate closely with Taiwan PDE, Project Management, Quality, Manufacturing, Operations, and supplier teams
- Coordinate cross-functional resources to resolve technical issues and support production readiness
- Drive supplier technical alignment, improvement actions, and launch readiness activities
- Support customer technical requirements, production audits, and issue-response activities when required
- Design Review and Manufacturing Feasibility Evaluation
- Participate in design reviews, DFM/DFA reviews, design validation, and production readiness assessments
- Evaluate product manufacturability and identify risks related to assembly, tooling, fixtures, and mass production
- Provide factory-driven design improvement recommendations based on production feedback and manufacturing constraints
- Track design change implementation status through the ECR/ECN process
- Ensure approved design changes are accurately implemented and validated on the production line
- Supplier, Tooling, Fixture, and Equipment Readiness
- Track tooling design, fabrication, qualification, and readiness status
- Support supplier technical issue resolution and verify corrective action effectiveness
- Assess supplier readiness and mass production capability for critical components and processes
- Monitor introduction, validation, and readiness of critical components, fixtures, and automation equipment
- Support fixture and automation equipment acceptance, qualification, and handover to production
Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)
- Bachelor's degree or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Product Design Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related technical field.
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in product development, NPI, manufacturing engineering, or a related engineering function.
- Hands-on experience supporting production launch, design transfer, factory transfer, or production ramp-up projects.
- Experience working with cross-country or cross-site engineering and manufacturing teams.
- Working knowledge of PDP/NPI processes, DFM/DFA, GD&T, root cause analysis, FACA/8D, DOE, and engineering documentation management.
- Proficiency with CAD software and engineering design tools; UG NX experience is preferred.
- Ability to review and manage BOMs, drawings, specifications, design records, ECR/ECN implementation status, and production validation documentation.
- Strong structured problem-solving skills with the ability to analyze product, assembly, tooling, fixture, and process issues.
- Intermediate or higher English proficiency, including technical reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
- Comfortable working in an on-site factory environment and collaborating with overseas engineering teams, suppliers, and manufacturing stakeholders.
What Will Put You Ahead
- Experience with cold plate products, liquid cooling modules, thermal products, or high-performance interconnect hardware.
- Experience supporting customer audits, production issue response, supplier technical alignment, or launch readiness activities.
- Vietnamese language capability or prior experience working directly with Vietnam manufacturing operations is an advantage.
- Strong ownership and accountability for project deliverables
- Proactive risk identification, escalation, and mitigation planning
- Sound technical judgment and decision-making under time-sensitive conditions
- Ability to drive projects, follow up actions, and influence cross-functional stakeholders
At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.
