Product Technology Engineer

Position Summary

The Supplier Development Engineer will be responsible for leading North American qualification efforts of new and existing external products, for both internal and external customers. Key focus will include the creation of specifications, test methods, and qualification procedures that ensure adherence to performance standards and critical to quality requirements. 

Job Description

• Leads the qualification of new & existing products that conform to specifications and customer expectations.
• Leads the qualification of alternate resins and raw materials used by outsourced partners for cost savings, obsolescence, and business continuity purposes.
• Works cross-functionally with Suppliers, Customers, Product Technology, Quality, Process Engineering, R&D, Purchasing, and Commercial Teams, to provide technical support on problem investigations and to ensure effective closure of corrective actions.
• Supports change management process for temporary and permanent supplier deviations to raw materials, equipment, process, testing, specifications, and/or quality.
• Serves as primary technical lead for outsourced quality improvement projects, and audits. Proactively identifies areas in need of improvement and coordinates investigations to successfully implement permanent correction actions to improve performance, quality, or reduce cost.
• Reviews and interprets process capability analysis and provides technical recommendations for corrective actions on key process parameters that cause variability in critical to quality product attributes.
• Communicates regularly with the Supply Chain to share key supplier development activities and qualification milestones.
• Co-owns Supplier Rating System and PPAP that tracks Key Performance Indicators, and continuous improvement activities.

Education

• B.S. in Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering.

Qualifications

• Familiarity with plastics, extrusion, printing, and/or converting processes.
• Minimum combined experience of five to eight years in supplier development, quality, process engineering, or product development.
• Demonstrated flexibility within a high-performance work environment and matrix managed organization.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills along with professional presentation and negotiation skills.
• Knowledge of statistical techniques and tools, their use and interpretation
• Requires ability to manage a project and process involving multiple manufacturing areas, plants, and across various portions of the business.
• Has demonstrated ability to work independently and focus on critical project parameters that determine success or failure.  
• Experienced in Design of Experiments and Statistical Process Control, with preferred certification in Lean Six Sigma or Black/Green Belt.
• Self-starter capable of working independently with minimal supervision.
• Travel up to 50% both domestically and internationally.