Principal Engineer – Connector Reliability and Compliance Management

Risk-Based Reliability Test Definition & Planning

• Consume DFMEA outputs and risk evaluation results to identify the highest-priority failure modes requiring reliability test coverage.
• Define targeted test plans specifying methods, stress levels, sample sizes, acceptance criteria, and pass/fail thresholds — grounded in physics-of-failure principles.
• Map identified failure modes (contact wear, corrosion, thermal cycling, mechanical fatigue, environmental degradation) to appropriate methods drawn from IEC 60512, USCAR-2, AEC-Q200, MIL-STD, and Amphenol internal standards.
• Develop and maintain standardized reliability test frameworks, sequence-of-test matrices, and test plan templates across Power BU programs and global sites.
• Review test results against acceptance criteria; interpret failures in the context of the original risk profile and advise on required design or process responses.

MTBF & Reliability Prediction

• Develop MTBF predictions using MIL-HDBK-217F, Telcordia SR-332, IEC TR 62380, and FIDES methodologies.
• Build physics-of-failure models to evaluate long-term connector reliability under thermal, mechanical, and electrical stress conditions.
• Develop mating cycle life models relating contact geometry, plating system, normal force, and mechanics to degradation of contact resistance and electrical performance over time.
• Define and validate accelerated life testing (ALT) and HALT plans; develop reliability growth models and reliability demonstration test (RDT) matrices for new programs.
• Analyze field return data to validate predicted failure models and continuously improve prediction accuracy; provide reliability data for customer proposals and qualification packages.

Product Development Support (Non-Design Role)

• Review and provide expert commentary on product designs, drawings, specifications, and test protocols from a reliability and risk perspective.
• Advise on connector contact system design choices (material, plating, geometry) as they relate to wear life, contact reliability, and mating cycle durability.
• Support selection of test methods and qualification criteria aligned to IEC, UL, USCAR, AEC-Q200, and customer-specific reliability requirements.
• Provide guidance on reliability-impacting manufacturing processes — plating thickness, assembly torque, housing material selection — and collaborate with quality and manufacturing teams to ensure process controls support reliability targets.

Failure Analysis & Continuous Improvement

• Lead and support failure analysis investigations (8D, fishbone, fault tree, FTA, SEM/cross-section) for in-process, field, and customer-returned connector products.
• Identify systemic failure trends across product lines; initiate CAPA in collaboration with design and quality teams.
• Maintain and grow a reliability knowledge base — capturing lessons learned from failures, test programs, and qualification activities across all programs.
• Drive continuous improvement in reliability processes and tools; introduce updated methodologies and industry best practices as standards evolve.

Global Compliance & Certification Leadership

This role serves as the single point of technical accountability for product compliance, certification strategy, and regulatory risk management across Power BU — fully integrated with reliability planning.

• Own compliance strategy for UL, TÜV, CB Scheme, IEC, CSA, and other regional approvals applicable to Power BU connector and power interconnect products.
• Serve as the primary technical interface to certification bodies (UL Solutions, TÜV, VDE, CSA) — engaging early to align on test scope, interpretations, construction reviews, and alternative compliance paths.
• Act as the customer-facing SME on product safety, certification, and regulatory compliance — supporting RFQs, audits, and technical reviews with authoritative, clear responses on certification paths, timelines, and limitations.
• Integrate compliance requirements directly into DFMEA reviews, risk assessments, and reliability test planning — ensuring safety-critical and regulatory-driven failure modes receive appropriate validation coverage.
• Align reliability testing, qualification testing, and certification testing to minimize duplication, reduce cost, and accelerate time to approval.
• Define and deploy standardized compliance and qualification processes across all Power BU sites — eliminating site-to-site variability and reactive, ad-hoc approaches.
• Assess compliance and certification impact of design changes, material substitutions, supplier changes, and manufacturing transfers; manage ongoing certification maintenance requirements.
• Correlate field issues and failure analysis results to both reliability models and compliance assumptions, driving continuous improvement across both disciplines.

Technical Standards, Documentation & Communication

• Maintain deep knowledge of IEC 60512, UL 1977, USCAR-2, AEC-Q200, and relevant automotive, industrial, and power application standards.
• Author and maintain reliability engineering procedures, test plan frameworks, MTBF templates, and qualification standards for use across Power BU sites.
• Prepare and present reliability assessments, risk summaries, MTBF reports, and compliance status for engineering leadership, program teams, and customers.
• Collaborate with global Engineering Excellence SMEs, quality engineers, and operations teams to align reliability and compliance standards and propagate best practices.
• Provide training and guidance to engineering teams on compliance fundamentals, certification pitfalls, and integration with reliability best practices.