Principal Process Engineer, Plating

Your Job

As a Principal Engineer, you will set the technical direction and own the long-term yield, quality, and cost strategy for the plating department, delivering sustained reductions in process cost-of-poor-quality (COPQ) while ensuring products meet the most demanding customer and specification requirements. This role provides technical leadership and mentorship across the process engineering team, drives root-cause and cost-reduction initiatives of the highest complexity, establishes plating process strategy and governance (SOPs, FMEAs, control plans, process parameters), analyzes SPC and capability data to guide capital and process investment decisions, and partners cross-functionally and cross-site to resolve complex customer issues and maintain EHS compliance.

Our Team

You will work within the manufacturing/process-quality organization supporting the plating/surface-treatment area, serving as the senior technical authority for the discipline. The role collaborates closely with Manufacturing Engineering, Production, Customer Quality/Service, EHS, and site and plant leadership, and mentors Process and Senior Process Engineers in the implementation of robust process controls and continuous-improvement initiatives.

What You Will Do

• Own the technical strategy and roadmap for yield, quality, and cost performance of the plating process, acting as the accountable technical leader for yield and quality KPIs across the department or site.
• Lead and mentor Process and Senior Process Engineers, providing technical guidance, reviewing their improvement projects, and building organizational capability in process engineering methods.
• Plan, sponsor, and execute complex, high-impact cost-reduction and process improvement projects, tracking financial impact and sustaining gains across multiple lines or sites.
• Establish governance for process parameters, Failure Modes and Effects Analyses (FMEA), and standard operating procedures (SOPs), ensuring consistent, controlled, and scalable plating processes.
• Direct the analysis of Statistical Process Control (SPC) data and process capability studies, translating findings into capital, equipment, and process investment recommendations.
• Lead cross-functional and cross-site teams to investigate and resolve the most complex customer complaints, driving root-cause corrective actions and structural reductions in process COPQ.
• Ensure plating operations comply with environmental, health, and safety (EHS) regulations and internal EHS procedures, and lead process risk assessments for new or modified processes.
• Partner with Mechanical/Manufacturing Engineering on strategic improvement activities tied to the plating department, including equipment selection, fixture design, and process flow architecture.
• Serve as the escalation point and subject-matter expert for all plating-related activities, sustaining process stability, quality output, and a continuous-improvement culture.
• Perform other duties as assigned by supervisor, leader, or Head of Department to meet business and operational needs.

Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Materials, Chemical, Mechanical, Metallurgy, or equivalent) or equivalent technical qualification.
• 8+ years of hands-on experience in manufacturing or process engineering, with substantial experience in plating/surface treatment or electrochemical processes.
• Advanced, demonstrated expertise with SPC, process capability analysis (Cp/Cpk), FMEA development, and authoring/governing SOPs and control plans.
• Proven track record leading complex, cross-functional improvement projects and mentoring or leading other engineers, with strong root-cause analysis and corrective/preventive action skills.
• Deep familiarity with EHS requirements in chemical/process environments and ability to ensure regulatory and site compliance.

What Will Put You Ahead

• Advanced degree (MS) in a relevant engineering discipline.
• Six Sigma (Black Belt) or Lean certification with demonstrated leadership of DMAIC or similar methodologies at scale.
• Deep, hands-on expertise with plating chemistries, bath control, and plating process equipment, including new process/equipment qualification.
• Demonstrated history of delivering multi-year, multi-site cost savings and yield improvement strategies in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience with quality management systems (e.g., ISO), MES/ERP systems, and statistical software (Minitab, JMP, etc.), including deploying these systems across teams.

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.