Product Design Engineer - Platform Architecture

Summary

Apple's Platform Architecture Engineering team builds fully functional prototypes of systems that cut across domains and technologies. We're a small, self-contained group of electrical, mechanical, FPGA, and software engineers who take an idea and make it real. Sometimes it is a tool that teams across the company come to depend on, and sometimes it is a proof-of-concept for a product or capability that informs Apple's roadmap.

We’re looking for a product design engineer to own mechanical architecture and design end-to-end. You'd typically be the mechanical engineer on a given project, working closely with the team's cross-functional counterparts, and often alongside domain experts elsewhere at Apple. No two projects look alike, and when one wraps you move on to the next.

Description

As the product design engineer on a project, you own the mechanical design from concept through a working prototype—defining the system architecture, building and testing hardware, and iterating until it does what it needs to. The work spans 3D and 2D mechanical design, electrical component and module integration, and manufacturing-process optimization, and it changes with each project. You'll work largely independently, with strong engineers around you when you need them.

Responsibilities

• Define the mechanical architecture for new prototypes, selecting materials, processes, and components suited to each problem.
• Quickly become proficient in unfamiliar domains, enough to make sound design decisions.
• Develop 3D and 2D mechanical designs and integrate electrical components and modules.
• Independently build, test, and analyze prototypes, including stress, tolerance, and failure analysis.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to understand and execute on integration and performance requirements.
• Partner with external vendors and internal manufacturing teams to optimize designs for function, manufacturability, and cosmetics.
• Collaborate with domain experts across Electronics, Power, RF, Manufacturing Design, and Industrial Design.
• Clearly articulate design decisions and present data and findings to partners and leadership.

Minimum Qualifications

• BS in Mechanical Engineering, Product Design, or equivalent experience
• Experience with a current 3D CAD package
• Experience owning designs through the full cycle: concept, 3D/2D design, prototype build, and test

Preferred Qualifications

• 10+ years designing and developing mechanical products for consumer electronics or comparable industries
• Siemens NX fluency
• Hands-on experience with 3D printers, CNC mills, lathes, or other fabrication methods
• FEA modeling experience with a major CAD package
• Flexible in design approach, with attention to detail
• Comfortable defining and driving the work when a problem is loosely scoped
• A track record of creative, ambitious approaches to hard problems
• Communicates design decisions and data clearly to both technical and non-technical partners