Design Engineer Jobs in Illinois

We are seeking individuals who are proactive, humble, eager to learn new skills, and demonstrate strong potential for growth. Our R&D/Product Development Engineering Teams generate original ideas for innovative products and guide their development from concept to mass production.

This position focuses on developing state-of-the-art liquid cooling systems and advanced sealing solutions, taking concepts from design to production. You will play a critical role in advancing thermal and mechanical designs, optimizing manufacturing processes, and ensuring product reliability and scalability. This role is ideal for engineers passionate about thermal systems, mechanical design, and innovative sealing technologies.

Our Team

Molex creates connections for life by enabling technologies that transform the future and improve lives. With a presence in more than 40 countries, Molex offers a complete range of connectivity products, services and solutions for the data communications, medical, industrial, automotive and consumer electronics industries. Our team is helping the company establish a leading position in these areas while creating or providing mechanical and thermal solutions.

What You Will Do (Job Description)

Liquid Cooling System Design:

• Design and develop advanced liquid cooling solutions, including cold plates, tubing, and manifold systems for high speed IO solutions.

Mechanical Design:

• Design of cooling system components, including housings, quick-connect fittings, and structural interfaces, ensuring manufacturability and robustness.
• Develop detailed CAD models and engineering drawings for thermal and mechanical components, adhering to industry standards.
• Conduct structural and thermal stress analyses (e.g., FEA) to ensure the mechanical reliability of designs under thermal expansion, vibration, and pressure conditions.

End-to-End Development (Concept to Production):

• Lead product development from initial concept and prototyping to mass production.
• Define product requirements, create design specifications, and establish validation plans for thermal and mechanical systems.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (thermal, mechanical, electrical, manufacturing) to ensure a seamless transition from design to production.
• Develop DFX (Design for Manufacturability, Reliability, and Testing) strategies to optimize production efficiency and product quality.
• Identify and mitigate risks throughout the product lifecycle, including design iterations, testing, and production ramp-up.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Act as a technical lead, coordinating efforts among cross-functional teams, suppliers, and production facilities.
• Provide technical guidance to ensure manufacturability, reliability, and scalability of liquid cooling and mechanical system.

Innovation and Compliance:

• Stay updated on industry trends in liquid cooling, mechanical design, and sealing technologies, including advanced sealing materials and methods.

Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, or a related field.
• 5 + years of experience in thermal and mechanical design.
• Proficiency in CAD software (e.g., NX, Creo, SolidWorks).
• Familiarity with End-to-End Development (Concept to Production)
• Experience with manufacturing processes (e.g., CNC machining, stamping, plating, injection molding, LSR molding).
• Experience with developing test requirements for mechanical & thermal designs as well as reviewing thermal and reliability test reports.
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills, able to deeply analyze testing failure mode while focusing on manufacturability and quality control.
• Experience performing tolerance stack-up analysis for CAD.
• Experience working with international colleagues and suppliers, which may require meetings in the early morning or evening.

What Will Put You Ahead

• Hands-on experience with liquid cooling systems: cold plates, CDU , quick-connect fittings, tubing, and manifold assemblies.
• Expertise in sealing technologies, including material selection, sealing design (e.g., O-rings, gaskets), and leakage prevention.
• Strong understanding of fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and material compatibility for mechanical/thermal systems.
• Experience with high-volume manufacturing and DFM/DFT principles for mechanical and thermal systems.
• Understanding of material properties in the liquid cooling field, including aging, thermal resistance, chemical compatibility, etc.
• Experience with simulation or performance analysis of liquid cooling thermal solutions
• Understanding precision machining, seal welding, molding (plastic & metal), soldering, stamping/Assy, or sintering processes.
• Passionate about design work and innovation, creating or optimizing products to establish leadership or address industry gaps.

For this role, we anticipate paying $100,000 - $130,000 per year. This role is eligible for variable pay, issued as a monetary bonus or in another form.

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.

Hiring Philosophy

All Koch companies value diversity of thought, perspectives, aptitudes, experiences, and backgrounds. We are Military Ready and Second Chance employers. Learn more about our hiring philosophy here .

Who We Are

At Koch, employees are empowered to do what they do best to make life better. Learn how our business philosophy helps employees unleash their potential while creating value for themselves and the company.

Our Benefits

Our goal is for each employee, and their families, to live fulfilling and healthy lives. We provide essential resources and support to build and maintain physical, financial, and emotional strength - focusing on overall wellbeing so you can focus on what matters most. Our benefits plan includes - medical, dental, vision, flexible spending and health savings accounts, life insurance, ADD, disability, retirement, paid vacation/time off, educational assistance, and may also include infertility assistance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance. Specific eligibility criteria is set by the applicable Summary Plan Description, policy or guideline and benefits may vary by geographic region. If you have questions on what benefits apply to you, please speak to your recruiter.

Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.

Equal Opportunities

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. Except where prohibited by state law, some offers of employment are conditioned upon successfully passing a drug test. This employer uses E-Verify. Please click here for additional information. (For Illinois E-Verify information click here , aquí , or tu ).

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