Principal Engineer DFM

Principal DFM Engineer

BH Job

Job title: Principal DFM Engineer

Location: Lincolnshire, IL

Imagine a company with technology leadership of over 160 years, yet it operates with the energy of a startup. Ingersoll Rand has dedicated itself to Making Life Better for its employees, customers, shareholders, and planets. We produce innovative and mission‑critical flow creation and life science technologies – from compressors to precision handling of liquids, gasses, and powers – to increase industrial productivity, efficiency, and sustainability.

Supported by over 80+ brands, our products are used in various end‑markets including life sciences, food and beverage, clean energy, industrial manufacturing, infrastructure, and more. Across the globe, we’re driving growth with an entrepreneurial spirit and ownership mindset. Learn more at  and join us to own your future.

The Principal DFM Engineer is responsible for driving design‑for‑manufacturability (DFM), process feasibility, and cost optimization for silicone and elastomer‑based products across the organization.

This role serves as a subject matter expert and strategic leader, owning the quoting process from a technical standpoint while establishing the manufacturing strategy from prototype through full‑scale production. Responsibilities include developing detailed cost models, defining tooling approaches, estimating validation requirements, and translating customer designs into robust, scalable manufacturing solutions.

The Principal DFM Engineer plays a critical role in guiding cross‑functional decision‑making and influencing customer outcomes, directly impacting business growth, margin performance, and long‑term capability development. While accountable for quotation and cost modeling, this position is primarily differentiated by its deep technical influence, shaping product design, tooling, and process strategies across the Elastomers Operation Unit. Additionally, this role advances best practices in LSR, HCR, and elastomer molding and extrusion technologies, particularly within regulated environments including Class II and Class III medical devices, while mentoring engineers and elevating organizational DFM capability.

• Lead comprehensive DFM evaluations for elastomer components and assemblies, providing actionable recommendations to optimize:
• Manufacturability and scalability
• Yield, robustness, and quality
• Cost efficiency and margin performance
• Regulatory and validation readiness
• Influence customer designs upstream through direct technical engagement and design reviews
• Identify critical‑to‑quality features, tolerance risks, and process limitations
• Define optimal manufacturing approaches across:
• HCR molding (compression, transfer)
• Extrusion and downstream operations
• Multi‑shot, overmolding, and bonded assemblies

• Serve as the technical owner of RFQs, developing detailed, transparent cost models for prototype through full production
• Translate DFM decisions into:
• Cycle time, cavitation, and capacity strategies
• Tooling concepts and lifecycle strategies (prototype vs production tooling)
• Labor, material utilization, scrap, and secondary operations
• Develop and present:
• NRE, validation (IQ/OQ/PQ), and lifecycle cost considerations
• Partner with Sales and Business Development in customer‑facing technical and commercial discussions
• Ensure alignment between technical assumptions, cost structure, and business objectives

• Define the end‑to‑end manufacturing strategy, including:
  • Prototyping approach and scale‑up pathway
  • Tooling phases and capital investment strategy
  • Automation and inspection strategies
  • Validation and qualification roadmap
• Define and evaluate tooling approaches:
  • Multi‑cavity vs. family molds
  • Cold runner systems, gating, venting, and parting line strategies
  • Steel selection, mold class, and lifecycle considerations
• Collaborate with Process Engineering, Tooling, Quality, and Operations to:
  • Validate manufacturability assumptions
  • Optimize cycle time, yield, and throughput
• Drive early‑stage decisions that impact…