CAE Engineer

Your Job

Molex ICMM is seeking a CAE Engineer specializing in mechanical simulation and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to strengthen simulation-driven product development within the Product Design Engineering team. You will convert product and customer requirements into robust analytical models, predict mechanical performance before physical testing, and translate results into clear design recommendations. This hands-on role partners closely with product design engineers to improve design margin, reliability and development speed for high-speed connector, cable assembly and related interconnect products used in data center, AI, server, storage and networking applications.

Our Team

The ICMM Product Design Engineering team develops high-speed interconnect solutions and works cross-functionally with validation/reliability, materials, manufacturing, quality, signal integrity, suppliers and other CAE specialists. The team uses simulation, physical testing and engineering judgment together to make better design decisions earlier in the development cycle.

What You Will Do

• Partner with PDE engineers to translate product specifications, customer requirements and design questions into mechanical simulation plans, assumptions and acceptance criteria.
• Build, run and interpret nonlinear FEA models involving contact, friction, large deformation, material nonlinearity and complex connector or assembly interactions.
• Analyze contact normal force, mate/unmate force, force-displacement response, terminal deflection, stress/strain, permanent set, retention, latch behavior, blocking force and overstress conditions.
• Evaluate tolerance-driven performance across minimum, nominal and maximum conditions, including stack-up, interface variation, misalignment and worst-case scenarios.
• Perform geometry and material trade studies, identify key design sensitivities and provide practical recommendations that improve performance, margin and robustness.
• Correlate simulation results with laboratory and prototype measurements; investigate discrepancies and improve modeling assumptions, material data and boundary conditions.
• Document and present methods, uncertainty, validation status, findings and recommended actions; develop reusable simulation standards, templates and lessons learned.

Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mechanics, Computational Mechanics or a closely related discipline.
• Experience applying FEA to mechanical product development, including nonlinear structural analysis, contact modeling, friction, large deformation and material nonlinearity.
• Knowledge of solid mechanics, contact mechanics, strength of materials, material behavior, stress/strain and force-displacement relationships.
• Ability to prepare geometry, select element types and mesh refinement, define realistic boundary conditions, assess convergence and critically interpret results.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings, GD&T, tolerances, material specifications and mechanical product requirements, and connect simulation results to physical behavior.

What Will Put You Ahead

• Experience with Abaqus for nonlinear static/implicit or dynamic/explicit analysis, or equivalent advanced FEA platforms.
• Experience modeling connector terminals, copper alloys, stamped contacts, engineering thermoplastics and frictional contact interfaces.
• Knowledge of connector and cable assembly design and manufacturing processes, including stamping, injection molding, plating and assembly.
• Experience correlating FEA with load-frame, force-displacement, insertion/extraction, retention or other mechanical validation data.
• Working knowledge of DFMEA, DOE, statistical tolerance analysis, DFM/DFA, structured root-cause analysis, Python or solver scripting.
• Experience supporting high-speed interconnect products for data center, AI, server, storage or networking platforms.

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.

Who We Are

As a Koch company, Molex is a leading supplier of connectors and interconnect components, driving innovation in electronics and supporting industries from automotive to health care and consumer to data communications. The thousands of innovators who work for Molex have made us a global electronics leader. Our experienced people, groundbreaking products and leading-edge technologies help us deliver a wider array of solutions to more markets than ever before.

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.

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.