Design for Manufacturing Engineer II

Overview

At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. That mission comes to life through the devices people use every day, and is represented in our Surface and Xbox products. Our Microsoft Devices Operations (MDO) organization leverages engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain teams to produce, deliver, and service hardware at scale.

We are hiring a Design for Manufacturing Engineer II to help deliver on MDO's strategy to "Make it. Ship it. Love it." This role exists at the intersection of product design and factory execution. It leverages product knowledge, robust engineering methods, and continual improvement mindset to deliver on our operational objectives of cost, quality, and scale.

People who thrive in this role are curious and analytical engineers who enjoy solving complex product development challenges. They apply engineering fundamentals and design for manufacturing principles to evaluate designs, identify risks, and recommend improvements that enhance manufacturability, quality, cost, automation, and scalability. They work effectively across disciplines, use data to inform decisions, and contribute to technical solutions that help bring products successfully from concept to production.

Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities

• Partner with cross-functional engineering teams throughout concept and product development to improve manufacturability, repairability, quality, cost, automation, and scalability while contributing to key product design decisions.
• Perform Design for Manufacturing/Design for Assembly (DFM/DFA) assessments and engineering analyses to identify design for manufacturing risks, evaluate complexity, and provide actionable recommendations that improve product robustness, assembly efficiency, and manufacturing readiness.
• Assess new technologies, materials, features, and manufacturing processes, applying engineering methods to characterize technical risk, evaluate feasibility, and support informed product design decisions.
• Apply structured engineering tools and methodologies, including tolerance analysis, Design of Experiments (DOE), Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), statistical analysis, and Design for Six Sigma principles, to understand technical tradeoffs and guide product development.
• Collaborate across Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial Design, Reliability, Quality, and Global Manufacturing teams to resolve design challenges, develop risk mitigation strategies, establish Design for Excellence (DFX), standards and best practices, and clearly communicate technical findings, risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations using data-driven analysis.

Qualifications

• Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field AND 2+ years experience in engineering, manufacturing, operations, hardware development
• OR equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field AND 3+ years of experience in engineering, manufacturing, operations, hardware development.

• OR Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field AND 5+ years experience in engineering, manufacturing, operations, hardware development.

• OR equivalent experience.

• Experience in product design and/or manufacturing engineering for consumer electronics or electro-mechanical hardware.

• Exposure to design for automation, such as evaluating designs for automated assembly, test, or repair and recommending changes that enable automation and manufacturability.

• Experience supporting one or more NPI programs from prototype builds through production ramp.

• Knowledge of Design for Six Sigma and statistical tools (DOE, tolerance analysis, process capability), with working knowledge of CAD and DFM tools such as Creo, Valor, or Cadence Allegro. Six Sigma Green Belt or equivalent certification is a plus.

• Effective collaboration and communication skills across Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial Design, Reliability, Quality, and global manufacturing teams, including suppliers and factories in different time zones. Presents findings, risks, and recommendations clearly, in writing and verbally, to peers, engineering leads, and management.

#W+DJOBS

#MDO

#Surface

#Xbox

#DFX

#Operations

#HWEng

#MFG

NPI Design for X IC3 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $102,100 - $202,200 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $133,800 - $219,200 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:

https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.