Automatically apply for jobs with Zippia

Upload your resume to get started.

Product design engineer skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

6 min read

Quoted experts

Charles Jenckes,

Bryant Harrison

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical product design engineer skills. We ranked the top skills for product design engineers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 15.4% of product design engineer resumes contained cad as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a product design engineer needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 product design engineer skills for your resume and career

1. CAD

Here's how product design engineers use cad:

Managed aerodynamic prototyping process including CAD modeling, tool room coordination, manufacturing resource planning, and data acquisition and analysis.
Create renderings that illustrate early concept developments and iterations using CAD and rendering specific software.

2. Mechanical Design

Here's how product design engineers use mechanical design:

Coordinated design research and observation, concept development, mechanical design and analysis, manufacturing planning, and project management tasks.
Provided mechanical design and engineering expertise for industrial design projects and the development of new product proposals.

3. GD

GD refers to Grade Delay and is often mentioned on report cards or academic records when the instructor of a particular subject decides to hold the grade of a student. This is usually done if the instructor wants the student to improve their grade by retaking the exam or doing something for extra credit that will ultimately enhance their overall grade. Eventually, when the grade is assigned, the GD is then replaced with the original grade.

Here's how product design engineers use gd:

Trained in GD & T workbook and in various other industry standards.
Performed mechanical and electrical drafting while using GD & T standards.

4. Prototyping

Here's how product design engineers use prototyping:

Provided concept capturing and rapid prototyping for disruptive products to high level management group as decision-making baselines.
Managed all prototyping, testing/evaluation of new components, and overall weapon system performance.

5. Industrial Design

Here's how product design engineers use industrial design:

Collaborated with industrial designers and manufacturers (domestic and international) on projects from inception through launch.
Work closely with industrial designer to ensure aesthetic appearance is acceptable to customer.

6. Creo

Here's how product design engineers use creo:

Designed and detailed private office furniture products using 3d modeling software (creo 2.0).
Designed Shell Structure & Body Components in CREO 2.0 with WIND-CHILL 9.0 Data Management.

Choose from 10+ customizable product design engineer resume templates

Build a professional product design engineer resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your product design engineer resume.

7. Project Management

Here's how product design engineers use project management:

Experienced in Project management of design, develop and qualify through overseas suppliers to develop design specifications and requirements.
Developed project management methods for physical design contributing to increased efficiency and collaboration across geographically diverse design groups.

8. R

R is a free software environment and a language used by programmers for statistical computing. The R programming language is famously used for data analysis by data scientists.

Here's how product design engineers use r:

Batch data processing and statistic analysis with R script programming, such as Gage R&R and t-test.
Developed an SPC program that performed X bar and R charts for implementing six sigma quality standards.

9. Design Reviews

A dеѕіgn review іѕ a mіlеѕtоnе wіthіn a рrоduсt dеvеlорmеnt рrосеѕѕ іn whісh a design іѕ evaluated bаѕеd on іtѕ rеԛuіrеmеntѕ. Thе рurроѕе of dеѕіgn rеvіеwѕ іѕ tо examine thе overall design or a ѕресіfіс аѕресt оf a dеѕіgn аt еасh ѕtаgе of the development оf a nеw оr еxіѕtіng рrоduсt.

Here's how product design engineers use design reviews:

Design reviews and documentation # Interface parts/functional requirement of each part/appearance requirement/serviceability requirement # Study of Strength and durability requirements-test spec.
Conducted cross-functional evaluations and design reviews providing relevant, purposeful and insightful engineering design input.

10. Design Concepts

Here's how product design engineers use design concepts:

Developed new applications and design concepts; resolved experimental problems to enhance research and development.
Generate, evaluate and analyze design concepts utilizing a facts-based approach.

11. UL

Here's how product design engineers use ul:

Conducted ETL (UL) testing on prototypes prior to Product release to ensure proper certification in North America Region.
Established test specifications and procedures that are used to determine a product's acceptability based on UL and CSA requirements.

12. NX

NX is an advanced, high-end technology developed by Siemens PLM software comprising of CAD/CAM/CAE software package. The primary function of NX is to be used in design engineering analysis.

Here's how product design engineers use nx:

Elaborate FEA (Finite Element Analysis) using NX NASTRAN software.
Designed 3-D Electronics Parts and Circuit Boards using ProE, CATIA, UNIGRAPHICS (NX), and SDRC parameters.

13. Finite Element Analysis

Finite Element Analysis is a simulated or computerized method of predicting a product's reaction to real-world forces, such as heat, vibration, fluid flow and other physical effects. FEA runs a computer simulation to determine whether a product will effectively work, break, or wear out based on the way it's designed. Developers can test the efficiency or durability of a product through FEA before going into mass-production.

Here's how product design engineers use finite element analysis:

Completed Finite Element Analysis to confirm seal designs and produced reports for internal and external examination.
Used finite element analysis tools to simulate components for structural and non- linear contact analysis.

14. Product Development

Product development is the complete procedure of creating a product from concept until release of the final product. Product development has many stages after which a product is released into the market. Identifying the need, creating the opportunity, conceptualizing a product, and providing a solution, all are different stages of product development.

Here's how product design engineers use product development:

Reduced development cycle times by conducting product development meetings with designers and process engineers and converted manufacturing insights into design standards.
Managed all product development phases of High-Speed Data interconnect for telecommunications as well as Ultrasound Probe systems for medical applications.

15. DFMEA

Here's how product design engineers use dfmea:

Created Design Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (DFMEA) documents for various piece parts to prevent reoccurring failures.
Conducted Design Failure Mode and Effect analysis (DFMEA) to determine necessary safety and structural design elements.

5 Product Design Engineer resume examples

Build a professional product design engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 5+ resume templates to create your product design engineer resume.

Create my resume

Build a professional resume in minutes using this template.

What skills help Product Design Engineers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on product design engineer resumes?

Charles Jenckes

Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

For new graduates
1.Where the candidate went to school and what was studied
2.GPA
3.Any successful internships
4.Projects completed by the student

What soft skills should all product design engineers possess?

Bryant Harrison

Instructor, Murray State University

Engineers are constantly working with a variety of people on a project. These people could be other engineers in the same department or other departments, managers, stakeholders, and customers. The ability to communicate both on a technical and non-technical level with these people is likely the most important soft skill for a design engineer.

What hard/technical skills are most important for product design engineers?

Bryant Harrison

Instructor, Murray State University

Designing, prototyping, testing, and iterating are likely the most important skills for a design engineer. This is what we strive to teach at Murray State in our Design Engineering Technology program. Many sub-skills would fall into these categories, such as CAD, design for manufacturing, 3D printing, and destructive/non-destructive testing.

What product design engineer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. Richard Onyancha

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Department Head, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

For students who would like to consider taking a gap year, depending on what their goals after graduation are, they could consider enhancing their skills in any of these areas:
- Technical hands-on skills such as CAD/CAM, simulation, design, and fabrication
- Global competency
- Public policy
- Job shadowing
- Preparing for and taking professional exams if, for example, considering medical school or law school

What type of skills will young product design engineers need?

Andy Gerrick

Associate Professor and Chair, Embry-Riddle, Prescott

Most important is the ability to pull together the problem-solving skills learned in the different engineering courses to solve real-world, multidisciplinary, engineering problems. This requires a clear understanding of the problem and the requirements, and it requires a thorough understanding of engineering concepts. Memorizing problem solutions is of no value because no one will pay you to solve a problem that has already been solved. An engineer's ability to communicate is also extremely important. Engineering is a collaborative endeavor, so if you are not able to communicate your ideas, you are not contributing.

Do you want to know more?

List of product design engineer skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a product design engineer resume and required skills for a product design engineer to have include:

CAD
Mechanical Design
GD
Prototyping
Industrial Design
Creo
Project Management
R
Design Reviews
Design Concepts
UL
NX
Finite Element Analysis
Product Development
DFMEA
Engineering Design
Technical Support

CNC
FMEA
Failure Analysis
Aided Design
Sigma
Dvp R
DOE
Lean Manufacturing
Sketch
Cost Reduction
Engineering Drawings
BOM
Product Line
PCB
Pro-E
RF
Plastic Injection

MATLAB
Brainstorming
DVP
Design Changes
Design Process
ISO
Product Quality
OEM
Ansys
Engineering Support
Laser Cutting
Assembly Drawings
Design Validation
System Design
Catia V5
Test Procedures

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse architecture and engineering jobs