Senior equipment development engineer - Sustainment Engineering Solutions

From the beginning, Starbucks set out to be a different kind of company. One that not only celebrated coffee and the rich tradition, but that also brought a feeling of connection. We are known for developing extraordinary leaders who share this passion and are guided by their service to others.

The equipment development engineer contributes to Starbucks success by improving the reliability, safety, serviceability, and total cost of ownership of commercial beverage and food service equipment used in coffeehouses. The engineer turns field performance data and partner feedback into clear technical problems, leads root-cause investigations, develops and validates corrective actions, and carries approved changes to commercialization and fleet implementation.

• Analyze work-task, parts-consumption, cost, telemetry, service-history, and equipment-performance data to identify recurring failure modes, reliability trends, and high-value improvement opportunities.
• Define the problem, quantify the operational and financial impact, establish baseline performance, and recommend priorities based on partner experience, coffeehouse availability, safety, reliability, and cost.
• Develop dashboards, Pareto analyses, life estimates, and clear technical summaries that support evidence-based decisions.

• Lead structured investigations of mechanical, electrical, controls, software, materials, water-system, and equipment-integration failures.
• Use methods such as fault-tree analysis, 5 Whys, fishbone analysis, FMEA, hypothesis testing, teardown inspection, materials analysis, and controlled experimentation.
• Work with suppliers and service partners to define containment, corrective actions, acceptance criteria, and verification plans.

• Review component redesigns, material changes, software or firmware updates, service procedures, preventive-maintenance improvements, in collaboration with equipment suppliers.
• Create requirements, specifications, statements of work, test plans, sample-size rationales, and pass/fail criteria. Update service and operations and maintenance manuals.
• Plan and conduct benchtop, reliability-lab, supplier, and coffeehouse testing, including first-article review, fit/function checks, accelerated life testing, and field trials.
• valuate manufacturability, backward compatibility, service installation, spare-parts strategy, inventory disposition, and implementation risk.

• Lead engineering changes through Starbucks technical review and change-control processes, including required documentation, safety reviews, third-party certifications, approvals, and release readiness.
• Serve as a technical point of contact with equipment manufacturers, component suppliers, and internal stakeholders
• Track open issues and negotiate technically sound outcomes that meet Starbucks requirements.
• Build project plans, manage technical risks and dependencies, communicate status and decisions, and elevate barriers with clear recommendations.
• Monitor early-life field performance after implementation and verify that expected reliability, cost, and partner-experience improvements are achieved.

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, mechatronics, or a related technical field.
• 5 years of progressive engineering experience supporting commercial, industrial, consumer, or food service equipment, including project management
• 5 years of experience developing test plans, building or evaluating prototypes, conducting laboratory or field tests, and interpreting results.
• 5 years of demonstrated project management experience.
• Demonstrated experience conducting root-cause analysis and developing corrective actions for equipment or component failures.
• Experience using field-service, reliability, quality, or telemetry data to identify failure trends and prioritize engineering work. Ability to query and analyze large datasets using AI, Excel, SQL, Tableau, Power BI, Python or similar tools
• Experience authoring and maintaining technical requirements, engineering specifications, test reports, and change-control documentation.
• Demonstrated experience working with suppliers and cross-functional stakeholders to move changes from technical investigation through validation and implementation.
• Working knowledge of engineering statistics and…