Engineer, Design

2300 Vierling Drive West, Shakopee, Minnesota 55379 United States of America

Since 1916, Oatey has provided reliable, high-quality products for the residential and commercial plumbing industries, with a commitment to delivering quality, building trust and improving lives. Today, Oatey operates a comprehensive manufacturing and distribution network comprised of industry leading family of companies:
Oatey, Cherne, Keeney, Quick Drain, Hercules, Dearborn, Oatey Canada, William H. Harvey, Masters, Contact, Belanger, Lansas, and Durgo.

At Oatey, we're doing big things — and by joining us, you'll have the chance to do big things too. You can build a strong career in an innovative, inclusive, high-performance environment, with the confidence that your company cares — about you, our customers and our world. Ready to make an impact in a place where you matter?

The Design Engineer works in collaboration with Senior, Lead, and Principal Engineers to design, analyze, and implement robust engineering solutions to address technical, performance, and manufacturing requirements that enhance Oatey’s products, systems, and capabilities across rough plumbing, water infrastructure, and related markets. This role contributes to concept development, continuous improvement efforts, detailed designs, and engineering documentation. Supporting both new and existing products throughout their lifecycle under the guidance of senior engineering staff.

The Design Engineer applies sound engineering principles while adhering to established company policies, procedures, and applicable industry codes and regulations. Primary responsibilities include the creation and refinement of concept models, incorporating input from Product Management, Sales, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain teams; finalizing designs and documentation; and developing DFMEAs and validation test plans to ensure robust, manufacturable, and compliant product solutions.

• Develop new products and technologies through ideation, concept generation, design, engineering analysis, prototyping, and validation.
• Support new product development, line extensions, and gap-fill initiatives aligned with strategic business objectives.
• Translate product requirements into detailed engineering solutions that meet performance, cost, quality, and manufacturability targets.
• Develop design verification and validation strategies aligned with product risk, regulatory requirements, and customer use conditions.
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective action efforts for design-related failures identified during testing or in the field.

• Develop and maintain comprehensive product specifications including CAD models, detailed drawings, BOMs, purchase specifications, and related documentation.
• Ensure all design documentation is accurate, complete, and compliant with internal standards and external regulatory requirements.

• Perform feasibility assessments to evaluate technical risk, cost, performance, and manufacturability in support of business cases.
• Conduct DFMEAs, tolerance studies, and design risk assessments to identify and mitigate potential failure modes.
• Utilize engineering analysis tools such as Finite Element Analysis (FEA), prototyping, and laboratory testing to validate designs.

• Execute assigned engineering projects by managing individual design tasks, deliverables, and timelines within a structured product development process.
• Support project plans by identifying technical risks, proposing mitigation strategies, and escalating issues as appropriate.
• Ensure designs progress efficiently from concept through validation and release while meeting project milestones and quality expectations.

• Support sustaining engineering activities including cost reduction, quality improvements, and product enhancements.
• Investigate field issues, warranty claims, and customer feedback to drive design improvements and corrective actions.
• Manage engineering changes (ECRs) through implementation and release.

• Collaborate effectively…