Thermoforming Process Engineer

Sub-Zero Group, Inc. is the leading manufacturer of luxury kitchen appliances. As a longstanding, family-owned company, we pride ourselves on being icons of design and paragons of performance and quality. Our Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove products are the refrigeration, cooking, and dishwashing specialists found in the world's most luxurious homes. 

The Cedar Rapids facility is a brand new, state-of-the-art facility, with work still in process for production equipment.  This is a unique opportunity to work cross functionally as a member of the startup team for the new facility.  At the Cedar Rapids plant, we’re building a team that is humble, hungry, and smart – dedicated to producing top-quality products while fostering a culture of continuous improvement.  Growth and development are important aspects of this role. Whether you aspire to be a leader or a technical expert, this position will set you up for future success. 

We are seeking a motivated individual with an analytical approach to provide technical leadership as we start-up a new manufacturing facility.  This role will lead our efforts to add thermoforming and plastic trimming processes to our new facility. 

Primary Responsibilities 

We are seeking an experienced Thermoforming Process Engineer with a hands-on approach to provide subject matter expertise as a member of the Manufacturing Engineering team. 

This role will be responsible for the start-up of forming and trimming processes for thermoformed parts at our new manufacturing facility. The ideal candidate will have experience in the forming (vacuum and pressure) of thick gauge thermoplastics, tool design and qualification, part work holding methodologies, and plastics trimming technologies. 

Once start-up is completed, this role will be responsible for maintaining production performance as well as seeking out and executing continuous improvement opportunities. 

Responsibilities during start-up: 

• Specify, purchase, install, and start-up new assets for fabrication of thermoformed parts. 
• Complete, or coordinate completion, of safety risk assessment and safety lifecycle during development, installation, and start-up of new equipment and processes. 
• Maintain awareness of state of industry and trends in equipment and technology.  
• Provide, or coordinate, technical training for thermoforming and trimming of plastic parts. 
• Assess training needs of technical support staff and develop plan to address areas of need. 
• Establishes, coordinates and directs Thermoforming and Trimming process improvement initiatives. 
• Develops OEE and Quality improvement plans with the plant Leadership Team to meet targets. 
• Responsible for CAR development and follow-up through the submission/approval process and coordination of capital activities. 
• Provides leadership in the pursuit of Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and Productivity goals (SQDCP). 
• Corrects safety related issues and leads investigations on safety related topics. 

Responsibilities as business unit production support: 

• Provides technical operations support for Thermoforming and Trimming manufacturing problems. 
• Develops and leads process-improvement initiatives to address specific issues as they arise. 
• Utilizes Plan, Do, Check and Adjust methodology for managing daily improvement (MDI). 
• Capable of recognizing opportunities for improvement and generating a list of ideas for annual plant operational improvement. 
• Utilizes lean methods (Kaizen) for process improvements and utilizes daily coaching for sustainment. 
• Utilizes operational data to make informed decisions on a daily basis. 
• Ensures layered audits are completed as scheduled and implements countermeasures to safeguard goal attainment. 
• Uses metrics for accountability to mark improvement or need for improvement. 
• Provides engineering support and resources to sustain plant production including assisting with plant facilities and production equipment maintenance. 
• Financial acumen for data analysis of trends and tendencies, tenacity in the performance of the tasks within the role, and continuous improvement (Lean Management). 

We value our employees by providing: 

• Competitive compensation based on skill and experience. 
• Industry leading health, dental, and vision plans. 
• Generous 401 (K) savings and profit sharing. 
• Education assistance and internal training programs. 
• Maternity & paternity leave. 
• Interested in learning more about the robust benefits package we offer? Click here!