Staff Engineer – Technical Sourcing, DFX & NPI

Work Schedule

Environmental Conditions

Job Description

As part of the Thermo Fisher Scientific team youll discover meaningful work that makes a positive impact on a global scale. Join our colleagues in bringing our Mission to life every single day to enable our customers to make the world healthier cleaner and safer. We provide our global teams with the resources needed to achieve individual career goals while helping to take science a step beyond by developing solutions for some of the worlds toughest challenges like protecting the environment making sure our food is safe or helping find cures for cancer.

Position Summary

The Staff Engineer serves as a senior technical leader responsible for advancing Design for Excellence (DFX) strategy and technical sourcing across New Product Introduction (NPI) programs. This role ensures mechanical designs are manufacturable scalable cost-effective and aligned with Thermo Fishers business objectives quality standards and PPI culture.

Operating at the intersection of R&D Procurement Operations Quality and strategic suppliers the Staff Engineer provides deep technical expertise and system-level perspective to influence product architecture manufacturing strategy and cost structure early in the development lifecycle.

The Staff Engineer plays a critical role in translating product innovation into reliable manufacturable and economically viable solutions at scale.

Technical Leadership & Strategic Sourcing

• Serve as the technical authority for mechanical components and assemblies across multiple NPI programs.

• Act as the primary technical interface between R&D Procurement and Operations to align product design with manufacturing strategy.

• Lead supplier technical evaluations including manufacturing capability process maturity scalability and risk.

• Drive early supplier involvement (ESI) to influence product architecture manufacturing approach and cost targets.

• Provide technical leadership for make vs. buy decisions balancing engineering complexity cost structure scalability and supply chain risk.

• Establish strong partnerships with strategic manufacturing suppliers to drive innovation manufacturability improvements and cost optimization.

Design for Excellence (DFX) Strategy & Governance

• Lead the deployment and continuous improvement of Design for Excellence (DFX) across mechanical designs and development programs.

• Define and enforce best practices across:

  • Design for Manufacturability (DFM)

  • Design for Assembly (DFA)

  • Design for Cost (DFC)

  • Design for Quality and Reliability

  • Design for Serviceability

• Facilitate cross-functional DFX reviews and supplier workshops that influence product architecture and manufacturing processes.

• Drive value engineering initiatives and cost optimization strategies while preserving product performance and quality.

• Ensure product designs reflect real-world manufacturing constraints and supplier process capabilities.

New Product Introduction (NPI) Technical Leadership

• Provide technical leadership across the NPI lifecycle guiding programs from concept through commercialization.

• Lead structured DFX proposals and technical risk assessments across development phases.

• Influence product architecture decisions to optimize manufacturability cost structure and scalability.

• Participate in prototype builds design verification validation and production ramp ensuring manufacturing readiness.

• Identify and mitigate technical manufacturing and supply chain risks early in development.

• Ensure successful transfer from development to manufacturing through robust supplier readiness and process validation.

Cost Architecture & COGS Strategy

• Drive cost transparency and cost architecture decisions through collaboration with Procurement and Finance.

• Establish cost models and should-cost frameworks to support supplier negotiations and cost optimization.

• Guide programs toward progressive cost maturity from early concept estimates through production-released BOM.

• Lead VAVE initiatives that improve cost competitiveness and product value throughout the product lifecycle.

Cross-Functional Influence & Continuous Improvement

• Serve as a technical advisor and thought leader to engineering operations and procurement leadership.

• Drive alignment across R&D Program Management Supply Chain Manufacturing and Quality.

• Apply PPI tools and structured problem-solving methodologies to complex technical and operational challenges.

• Mentor engineers and contribute to organizational capability development in DFX technical sourcing and NPI execution.

• Establish and maintain technical playbooks standards and best practices to improve product development and manufacturing outcomes across the organization.

Minimum Qualifications

• Advanced Degree plus 6 years of experience or Bachelors Degree plus 8 years of experience in product design development and manufacturing

• Preferred Fields of Study: Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Electrical Engineering Physics

• Strong knowledge of mechanical design including materials selection precision mechanisms system integration

• Strong knowledge & demonstrated proficiency of GD&T tolerance analysis and DFX principles in a product development environment.

• Strong knowledge of manufacturing processes including machining injection molding and sheet metal fabrication

• Experience working directly with external suppliers and contract manufacturers.

• Experience supporting BOM cost and COGS development.

• Expertise in 3D CAD software (SolidWorks Pro/e Creo or similar) and PDM/PLM systems

• Experience dealing with mechanical devices that are regulated by third party agencies such as FDA NSF CSA UL ISO 13485 standard and others in the medical products industry

• Understanding of phase gate development processes and methodologies across multiple disciplines and subject matters is preferred

• Experience with documentation change control processes and quality systems (ISO FDA etc.)

• Proficient in Microsoft Office suite and engineering analysis tools

• Strong project management skills and ability to lead technical initiatives

• Strong communication and collaboration skills

• Strong analytical abilities and critical thinking

• Proactive personality and great problem-solving skills

• Ability to prioritize and deliver results in a fast-paced environment

• Strong attention to detail and commitment to quality

• Ability to work independently and collaborate effectively

• Experience working in cross-functional global teams

• Ability to travel up to 20% as required

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in regulated or quality-critical environments (life sciences medical devices analytical instruments).

• Experience with validation testing and verification procedures

• Demonstrated experience with FEA thermal analysis and engineering calculations

• Experience working within global supply chains.

• Familiarity with cost modeling should-cost analysis or digital manufacturing tools.

• Experience applying PPI or continuous improvement methodologies.

What Success Looks Like

• Products transition from design to production with minimal disruption.

• Mechanical designs meet cost quality and scalability targets.

• Suppliers are technically capable engaged early and production-ready.

• DFX principles are embedded early and sustained through launch.

• Cross-functional teams are aligned and executing with discipline.

Knowledge Skills Abilities

• Negotiation: Ability to negotiate cost and build should cost models for sourced materials

• Independence: Can work without direct supervision under ambiguous demands within a global organization

• Advanced technical writing skills to produce reports and documents

Our global team of more than 75000 colleagues delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands including Thermo Scientific Applied Biosystems Invitrogen Fisher Scientific Unity Lab Services and Patheon. For more information please visit.

Thermo Fisher Scientific is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin protected veteran status disability or any other legally protected status.