Product Development Engineer Job at Nekoosa Coated Products in South Plainfield

Deliver new product growth, technical excellence, and best-in-class quality in our coated products business by driving innovation and execution of adhesive/coatings projects from design to market, sustaining and improving existing product performance, and supporting process improvement across operational and manufacturing functions.

Organizational Development – 20%

1. Identify and establish connections with key individuals who are critical to the role's success in the organization - immediate and ongoing
2. Develop and sustain clear project and communication plans with scheduled touchpoints to ensure effective collaboration and achieve desired results - immediate and ongoing.

Technical Excellence – 80%

• Deliver $250K/year or more of annual material cost savings across our carbonless, specialty and application tape and extruded films products, creating an actionable pipeline of opportunities.
• Execute upon a project pipeline of opportunities across our application tape and extruded films grades to support a year over year cost savings potential of a $250K/annually.
• Collaborate with suppliers, commercial team and customers to identify, develop and implement emerging materials and processing technologies, maintaining a comprehensive level of understanding of new market technology, innovation and sustainability.
• Collaboration with QE with driving continual improvement and support SP Q-metrics.
• Provide operational support as needed in formulation, coating, and material specifications
• Provide technical expertise to customers to ensure alignment of expectations and meet their needs
• Support all compliance requests and certifications related to product, process, and environmental?
• Proactively work with purchasing to mitigate raw material increases, shortages, and reduce costs?
• Maintain a secure, accessible database of adhesive formulations, including management of change with Quality Assurance
• Ensure safety and environmental stewardship are a top priority
• Support transformative growth initiatives as directed.
• Support project launches from feasibility to commercialization through the Stage Gate Process.
• Lead the evaluation of competitive products, generate product improvement and new product ideas
• Work with suppliers to develop and implement emerging materials
• Collaborate with marketing to understand customer needs and translate those needs into functional product specs
• Support project launches from feasibility to commercialization through the Stage Gate Process.
• Work collaboratively with industry partners, end use customers, and key suppliers to bring forth new ideas that will result in the development of prototype products leading to enterprise growth

Competencies:

• Knowledge of chemical coatings and processing on various substrates
• Creative, innovative, communicative, self-motivated, team-oriented
• Adaptable around changing project requirements and priorities
• Ability to manage large workloads at times and to adapt to reprioritization as necessary in a rapidly changing environment
• Proficient in DOE development and execution while using statistical techniques to infer needed information for qualification.
• Cross functional leadership skills with the ability to make critical decisions and influence others

The ideal candidate will have experience in formulation design with emphasis on adhesives, a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry, Polymer or Material Science related disciplines, and 4+ years of leveraging new and existing technology platforms leading to profitable growth. Advanced degree is a plus. Must be willing to travel domestically and internationally.