Product Development Engineer

Purpose and role of job:

• Developing, scaling and commercializing innovative new products) and improving performance of existing products to meet/exceed customer needs.
• Collaborate with Business Development (BD) to identify product needs for assigned customers and/or use market trends to help guide product development.
• Cooperate with Operations and Quality to implement new and modified products in a safe, high quality and timely manner.
• Collect information of emerging technology developments and competitive activity in the region.
• Contribute to strengthen Intellectual property including reviewing and drafting patents.

Principal Accountabilities/ Responsibilities:

• Develop innovative nonwoven materials for hygiene, medical and other industrial markets. This will be accomplished through leadership of small PD teams or larger cross functional teams.
• Work closely with Business Development to:

o Identify customer opportunities for new and/or improved products.
o Develop an innovation pipeline of new materials/products for select customers demonstrating the expected competitive advantage and the targeted delivery time.

• Establish and continuously grow technical capability for the assigned technical area of responsibility through the following activities:

o Build relationships with raw material and equipment suppliers to identify and implement new technical approaches that have a high potential to deliver new proprietary products.
o Evaluate relevant IP to identify competitive threats and recommend responses.
o Study in market consumer good hygiene products and consumer trends to identify new material and product directions.
o Build strong working relationships with the Global Innovation team to be able to identify opportunities for new technologies to meet customer and consumer needs.

• Work closely with customers’ and suppliers’ technical staff to establish common test procedures and ensure that our products meet requirements.
• Work with Operations (primarily Process Engineers) and Quality to optimize the technical and economic performance of existing products.
• Maintain thorough documentation of relevant technical activities.
• Product testing, lab work as necessary.
• Position is based at our plant in Hazleton, PA.
• Travel to internal production sites, customer and Supplier as necessary. Some International travel may be required.

Education and experience requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Polymers, Chemistry, Physics or a related Engineering field; Advanced degree is considered a plus.
• 5-10 years industrial experience. Experience in Nonwovens and related technologies highly preferred.
• Good written and spoken communication; fluency in English required

Physical Requirements:

• Must be able to walk the facility for the duration of the shift
• May need to grasp, hold, carry, lift, crawl, kneel, squat occasionally during shift
• Must be able to climb without issue with heights up to three (3) levels
• Withstand temperature changes between high temperatures and moderate to low temperatures
• Hearing protection, safety glasses, safety shoes and hard hat required in designated areas

Disclaimer: The above information on this job description has been described to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by incumbents. Other duties and responsibilities not specifically described may be assigned from time to time, consistent with knowledge, skills and abilities of the incumbent.

Work Environment:

·         Must be able to walk the facility for the duration of the shift

·         May need to grasp, hold, carry, lift, crawl, kneel, squat occasionally during shift

·         Must be able to climb without issue with heights up to three (3) levels

·         Withstand temperature changes between high temperatures and moderate to low temperatures

·         Hearing protection, safety glasses, safety shoes and hard hat required in designated areas