Principal Engineer - Design Six Sigma; DFSS Reliability

Eaton's Electrical Sector Americas is seeking a Principal Engineer - Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) & Reliability to enhance engineering excellence by turning customer needs into strong requirements, reducing technical risk, resolving complex reliability issues, and improving product quality, manufacturability, and customer satisfaction. This role may be located in Pittsburgh, PA;
Raleigh, NC; or Milwaukee, WI. A hybrid work model (3 onsite/2 remote) is available, along with relocation assistance.

The Principal Engineer will serve as a highly autonomous, hands-on subject matter expert working closely with product teams, quality, lab and validation teams, manufacturing, service, MBSE Chiefs, and technical leaders. The role will independently lead complex technical work, apply DFSS and reliability methods, convert analysis into corrective actions and design improvements, and coach engineers so capability grows within project teams and across the organization.

He/she will work in close partnership with the Senior Chief Engineer - DFSS & Reliability and the Technical Director to align priorities and strategy, while maintaining the independence, leadership, and decision-making authority expected of a senior technical role.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
• Lead the application and deployment of DFSS and Design for Reliability practices across assigned programs and organizations, developing practical methods, standard work, templates, and core deliverables that integrate with product development, quality, and MBSE workflows.
• Independently lead complex technical and quality problem-solving efforts by applying DFSS and reliability tools to root-cause analysis, risk reduction, design trade-offs, and data-driven decision making.
• Guide teams in the use of methods such as QFD, CTQ flow-down, DFMEA / system FMEA, DOE, tolerance analysis, DVP&R, FRACAS, 8D, 5-Whys, Ishikawa, Pareto analysis, SPC, reliability growth, reliability prediction, and life-data / Weibull analysis where appropriate.
• Partner with lab and validation teams to define effective test strategies, test plans, instrumentation needs, MSA (Measurement Systems Analysis), sample-size considerations, data-gathering approaches, and acceptance criteria that support DFSS and reliability analysis.
• Translate test results, field data, customer feedback, and failure information into actionable insights, including root-cause identification, corrective actions, design improvements, and reliability-growth plans.
• Coach engineers, technical leaders, and project teams while working side-by-side with them on active programs, building capability to execute DFSS and reliability practices within their own projects.
• Define, track, and interpret meaningful quality and reliability indicators such as DPMO, Cp/Cpk, MTBF, failure rate, availability, uptime, corrective-action closure, and reliability-risk reduction, as appropriate to the program.
• Collaborate with the Senior Chief Engineer, MBSE Chiefs, Systems Architects, Product Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Service, and customer-facing teams to connect customer needs, requirements, architecture, verification plans, and quality-risk management.
• Develop reusable training material, coaching plans, playbooks, and deployment mechanisms that improve DFSS process adherence, consistency, and competence development across programs.
• Advise engineering leaders and influence program teams by providing expert guidance on quality, reliability, product assurance, and process-improvement priorities that improve product outcomes and business performance.

QUALIFICATIONS - BASIC / REQUIRED
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Reliability…