Development Program - Accelerated Engineering

Kohler Development Program - Accelerated Engineering

Work Mode:
Onsite

Location: Onsite - 4 days, Kohler, WI

Early Talent at Kohler

Kohler’s Leadership Development Programs are designed to accelerate the development of future leaders through structured, cross-functional rotational experiences that drive meaningful business impact. Participants join as full-time associates, gaining broad exposure across the organization while being supported through intentional development, mentorship, and a strong cohort experience.

Program Overview

Are you ready to accelerate your career in engineering? Join our dynamic Accelerated Engineering Development Program and embark on a transformative journey toward becoming a future engineering leader. Our mission is clear: Accelerate the growth of our engineers through focused training, mentorship, and hands-on experience in diverse product categories, to drive leading edge innovation  vision is to build a world class team of engineers equipped with the skills and network to develop meaningful products and innovations that will shape the future of Kohler.

We are looking for early-career engineers who bring curiosity, creativity, and a strong desire to solve meaningful business and product challenges. Successful participants will be innovative thinkers who can translate ideas into cost-effective, functional solutions that reflect Kohler’s brand values, while collaborating effectively across marketing, program management, industrial design, manufacturing operations, and other cross-functional partners. This program is designed for individuals who are passionate about innovation, eager to identify opportunities for transformative product solutions, and able to contribute within a diverse, global engineering organization by leveraging both their technical foundation and the collective expertise of the broader team.

What You’ll Do

• Create, refine, and implement new product solutions by:
  Collaborating with Product Marketing, Industrial Design, Program Management, and other cross-functional partners to define product specifications grounded in consumer research, market data, and business needs.
• Analyzing competitive products, warranty insights, sales feedback, and technical data to benchmark performance and inform new design approaches.
• Conducting feasibility assessments of early product concepts to evaluate technical viability, cost, manufacturability, and alignment to customer expectations.
• Developing and refining product concepts using 3D modeling software, engineering analysis tools, FEA, CFD, and design critique processes.
• Leveraging advanced prototyping and test lab capabilities to build, evaluate, and validate physical prototypes through hands-on experimentation.
• Applying engineering tools such as DFMEA, tolerance analysis, technical drawings, engineering standards, and GD&T to strengthen product quality and mitigate potential failure modes.
• Partnering with internal manufacturing teams and external suppliers to optimize design performance, cost, quality, timing, reliability, and manufacturing efficiency.
• Developing verification plans, supporting regulatory compliance, and providing hands-on engineering support during pre-production builds and manufacturing ramp-up.

Program Structure & Experiences

Kohler's Leadership Development Programs are designed as two-year, full-time rotational experiences that provide broad exposure to the business while accelerating leadership readiness. Participants complete 3–4 cross-functional rotations, each lasting 6–8 months, where they contribute to impactful work aligned to business priorities.

Beyond on-the-job experience, participants engage in a structured, enterprise-wide development journey that includes:

• A week-long immersive onboarding experience with their cross-functional cohort
  Intentional semi-annual seminars and quarterly learning sessions throughout the program
• Exposure to senior leaders and key stakeholders across the organization
• Ongoing mentorship, coaching, and performance feedback
• Opportunities to build community through a cohort-based experience and networking events

The program culminates in a formal graduation experience, positioning…