SMT(PCBA)DFM Engineer

Summary

The people here at Apple don't just build products — they build the kind of wonder that's revolutionized entire industries. It's the diversity of those people and their ideas that encourages 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 looking for a self-driven, passionate Design for Manufacturability (DFM) Engineer. In this role, you will lead the development of manufacturing processes and stations (SMA, HotBar, etc.), ensure top-tier quality, and solve complex problems in creative, effective ways. You will also manage contract manufacturers (CMs) to support product development builds and high-volume mass production.

Description

Collaborate tightly with the Cupertino Engineering team to validate product designs for manufacturability, recommending design changes to drive high quality (yield and reliability) and cost-effectiveness.
Develop innovative and creative manufacturing processes and stations.
Provide expert guidance and resources to contract manufacturer (CM) engineers.
Support product builds through all developmental stages (Proto, EVT, DVT, PVT) and seamlessly into mass production ramps.
Plan, develop, and implement rigorous procedures for PCBA, SIP, module manufacturing processes and quality control at CM sites.
Partner with cross-functional teams to define requirements and establish suitable performance metrics for new processes.
Lead cross-functional efforts to ensure the successful transition of projects from engineering to mass production, or during site-to-site transfers.
Act as the primary project leader on a variety of complex manufacturing and engineering projects.
Requires solid Python programming proficiency and fundamental artificial intelligence and machine learning knowledge to support data analysis, intelligent process optimization, model deployment, and automated system development. The incumbent will design, develop, and maintain Python-based scripts and applications, leverage AI/ML algorithms to solve practical business and technical problems, and drive efficiency improvement through intelligent automation and data-driven decision-making.
Use Python automation and AI analytical capabilities to replace repetitive manual work, improve overall work efficiency, reduce human error, and continuously optimize technical processes and operational standards.
Leverage Python data libraries to clean, process, and visualize structured and unstructured data. Combine AI analytical methods to identify process anomalies, summarize patterns, and provide optimization suggestions for existing workflows.

Minimum Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering (EE), Mechanical Engineering (ME), Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Science, or a closely related technical field, paired with relevant industry experience.
• Experienced in Surface-Mount Technology (SMT) or related fields (e.g., packaging assembly).
• Proficient in Python programming with practical project experience in scripting development, data processing, and automation tool building.
• Familiar with mainstream Python AI and data libraries, capable of independently completing data analysis and simple model construction tasks.
• Solid understanding of basic AI and machine learning concepts, including supervised/unsupervised learning, data training logic, model evaluation indicators, and algorithm application scenarios.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or above in Electrical Engineering (EE), Mechanical Engineering (ME), Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Science, etc.,
• Additional technical expertise in automation, data science, or mechanical design is a strong plus.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with a collaborative, team-player mindset suited for working across multiple functional groups.
• Demonstrated leadership skills with the ability to act as a project leader on complex initiatives.
• Strong quality mindset with experience navigating factory quality control systems (IQC, IPQC, SQE, QA/QE).
• Proficiency with software and CAD tools for running DFM analyses (e.g., Siemens/Mentor Graphics Valor NPI).
• A proactive, "can-do" attitude with the ability to perform well under pressure and tight deadlines.