Principal Engineer- Design for Manufacturing

Ingersoll Rand Careers•Lincolnshire, IL

5d•$100,000 - $150,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Principal DFM Engineer is responsible for driving design-for-manufacturability (DFM), process feasibility, and cost optimization for silicone and elastomer-based products across the organization. This role serves as a subject matter expert and strategic leader, owning the quoting process from a technical standpoint while establishing the manufacturing strategy from prototype through full-scale production. Responsibilities include developing detailed cost models, defining tooling approaches, estimating validation requirements, and translating customer designs into robust, scalable manufacturing solutions. The Principal DFM Engineer plays a critical role in guiding cross-functional decision-making and influencing customer outcomes, directly impacting business growth, margin performance, and long-term capability development. While accountable for quotation and cost modeling, this position is primarily differentiated by its deep technical influence, shaping product design, tooling, and process strategies across the Elastomers Operation Unit. Additionally, this role advances best practices in LSR, HCR, and elastomer molding and extrusion technologies, particularly within regulated environments including Class II and Class III medical devices, while mentoring engineers and elevating organizational DFM capability.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Manufacturing, Materials, Polymer, or similar)
10+ years of experience in elastomer manufacturing, DFM or process engineering
Deep expertise in Silicone (LSR, HCR) and rubber materials
Deep expertise in Compression, transfer, and injection molding processes
Deep expertise in Tooling design principles (cavitation, gating, venting, materials)
Deep expertise in Cost modeling and estimating for elastomer components
Proven experience in Validation requirements (IQ/OQ/PQ), APQP, PPAP
Proven experience in Interpreting engineering drawings, GD&T, and 3D CAD models
Proven experience in Regulatory and customer specifications (medical preferred)
Experience working in cross-functional and customer-facing roles
Proficiency with CAD tools (e.g., SolidWorks)

Nice To Haves

Experience in medical device manufacturing (Class II / Class III)
Experience in technical quoting and cost modeling
Experience with Mold flow analysis and interpretation
Experience with Automation and high-volume manufacturing systems
Experience with Multi-material molding (overmolding, bonding, insert molding)
Experience in CDMO environment
Six Sigma or Lean Manufacturing certification

Responsibilities

Lead comprehensive DFM evaluations for elastomer components and assemblies, providing actionable recommendations to optimize manufacturability and scalability, yield, robustness, and quality, cost efficiency and margin performance, and regulatory and validation readiness.
Influence customer designs upstream through direct technical engagement and design reviews.
Identify critical-to-quality features, tolerance risks, and process limitations.
Define optimal manufacturing approaches across LSR injection molding, HCR molding (compression, transfer), extrusion and downstream operations, and multi-shot, overmolding, and bonded assemblies.
Serve as the technical owner of RFQs, developing detailed, transparent cost models for prototype through full production.
Translate DFM decisions into cycle time, cavitation, and capacity strategies, tooling concepts and lifecycle strategies (prototype vs production tooling), and labor, material utilization, scrap, and secondary operations.
Develop and present multi-scenario pricing strategies (volume tiers, automation levels, tooling options) and NRE, validation (IQ/OQ/PQ), and lifecycle cost considerations.
Partner with Sales and Business Development in customer-facing technical and commercial discussions.
Ensure alignment between technical assumptions, cost structure, and business objectives.
Define the end-to-end manufacturing strategy, including prototyping approach and scale-up pathway, tooling phases and capital investment strategy, automation and inspection strategies, and validation and qualification roadmap.
Define and evaluate tooling approaches: Multi-cavity vs. family molds, cold runner systems, gating, venting, and parting line strategies, and steel selection, mold class, and lifecycle considerations.
Collaborate with Process Engineering, Tooling, Quality, and Operations to validate manufacturability assumptions and optimize cycle time, yield, and throughput.
Drive early-stage decisions that impact long-term operational efficiency, cost, and capacity.
Act as a technical bridge across Sales / Business Development, Engineering (Process, Tooling, Project), Quality (validation, regulatory requirements), and Supply Chain (materials, MOQs, lead times).
Lead technical reviews during RFQ, contract review, and NPI phases.
Ensure manufacturability, cost, and quality assumptions are clearly documented and transferred into execution.
Drive should-cost modeling and cost-out initiatives though improved mold designs, optimized cycle times, or new automation opportunities.
Analyze quote-to-actual performance and refine estimating accuracy.
Establish and standardize DFM guidelines, costing methodologies, and quoting best practices and templates.
Identify and implement improvements in tool design, process efficiency, material utilization, and automation strategies.
Mentor and develop engineers in DFM, elastomer processing, and cost engineering.
Serve as a subject matter expert (SME) for silicone and rubber processing technologies.
Support capability development and capital investment planning.
Contribute to long-term technology roadmaps and strategic growth initiatives.