Job Description
The Advanced Engineer, Product Technology serves as the technical expert for the Polyester product portfolio, providing leadership and guidance across business, manufacturing, quality, stewardship, commercial, and research functions. This role is responsible for supporting the lifecycle of commercial products, driving new product development initiatives, and ensuring product performance aligns with customer requirements and business objectives.
The successful candidate will leverage deep expertise in polyester materials and processing technologies to support strategic decision-making, resolve complex technical challenges, and identify opportunities for innovation and growth. This position plays a critical role in connecting product capabilities with customer applications while ensuring product quality, reliability, and manufacturing excellence.
Key Responsibilities
Product Technology Leadership
- Serve as the primary technical subject matter expert for the Polyester product family.
- Provide technical recommendations and guidance to cross-functional teams to support business strategies, customer needs, and operational objectives.
- Translate customer requirements, market trends, and application needs into actionable product technology strategies.
- Support business-critical decisions through data-driven technical analysis and risk assessment.
Product Stewardship & Lifecycle Management
- Establish, maintain, and continuously improve product release criteria aligned with manufacturing capabilities, quality standards, regulatory requirements, and customer expectations.
- Act as steward of product data integrity, ensuring accurate communication of product attributes, specifications, and performance characteristics.
- Support product change management processes and assess the impact of formulation, process, or specification changes.
- Partner with quality, manufacturing, and stewardship teams to maintain product consistency and reliability.
Technical Support & Manufacturing Excellence
- Lead technical investigations and resolution of complex manufacturing, supply, quality, and customer-related issues.
- Provide expert support to internal stakeholders and external customers on product performance, processing, and application challenges.
- Collaborate with manufacturing teams to optimize product quality, process capability, and operational efficiency.
- Utilize statistical analysis and process improvement methodologies to identify and implement sustainable solutions.
New Product Development & Commercialization
- Lead or support the development of new polyester products from concept through commercialization.
- Design and execute development plans, including formulation development, material characterization, application testing, and scale-up activities.
- Collaborate with commercial teams to identify growth opportunities and support customer qualification activities.
- Evaluate emerging technologies, competitive products, and market trends to drive innovation within the polyester portfolio.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Materials Science, Polymer Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in thermoplastics manufacturing, product development, application development, product management, or technical service within engineering polymers.
- Strong understanding of polymer characterization, analytical techniques, and material property testing methodologies.
- Demonstrated ability to influence and align objectives across technical, commercial, and operational functions.
- Experience troubleshooting complex product, process, or application-related issues.
- Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and customer-facing communication skills.
- Proven ability to manage multiple priorities and collaborate effectively in cross-functional environments.
Preferred Qualifications
- Advanced degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) in Materials Science, Polymer Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related field.
- Technical expertise with polyester resins, formulations, and applications.
- Knowledge of semi-crystalline thermoplastics, structure-property relationships, and performance optimization.
- Experience with injection molding, compounding operations, and twin-screw extrusion technologies.
- Working knowledge of statistical process control (SPC), Design of Experiments (DOE), and Six Sigma methodologies.
- Experience supporting product commercialization and customer qualification programs.
- Familiarity with sustainability initiatives, recycled content technologies, or circular economy applications within engineering polymers.
Key Competencies
- Technical Leadership
- Product Innovation
- Problem Solving & Root Cause Analysis
- Customer Focus
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Data-Driven Decision Making
- Strategic Thinking
- Project Management
- Continuous Improvement
