Director, Injection Molding Applications

Milacron Talent Acquisition•Batavia, OH

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Milacron is looking for a skilled and driven Director, Injection Molding Applications and Validation to lead the development, optimization, and validation of injection molding processes in Batavia, OH. This position plays a critical role in ensuring high-quality, efficient, and cost-effective production through process innovation, validation, and cross-functional collaboration. The ideal candidate combines deep technical knowledge of injection molding with hands-on experience in manufacturing, applications/machine sizing and validation and strong communication skills to support customer interactions both internally and externally

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Plastics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field. Advanced degree a plus.
7+ years of hands-on injection molding experience, with at least 3 years in a leadership or management capacity.
Deep knowledge of injection molding equipment, tooling, hot runner systems, and auxiliaries (dryers, chillers, mold temperature controllers).
Proven experience with automation systems and robotics integration in injection molding environments.
Strong analytical skills with experience in DOE, SPC, and troubleshooting.
7+ years of experience with Validation of capital equipment.
Understanding of electronics, hydraulics, pneumatics and software for capital equipment.
Working knowledge of scientific molding principles (RJG, Decoupled Molding).
Familiarity with Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or similar continuous improvement methodologies.

Nice To Haves

RJG Master Molder I or II certification preferred
Knowledge of simulation tools like Moldflow preferred
Familiarity with cleanroom or medical molding environments preferred

Responsibilities

Lead the development and refinement of robust injection molding processes for new and existing products.
Optimize molding parameters for cycle time, part quality, and material efficiency.
Drive root cause analysis and corrective actions for molding-related issues (e.g., flash, sinks, warping, short shots).
Collaborate with design, tooling, and quality teams to ensure mold/tooling designs are optimized for manufacturability.
Serve as a subject matter expert for injection molding across all sites and product lines.
Lead, train and mentor application team to become SME for all application related items.
Support product development teams with material selection, mold design reviews, and DOE testing.
Lead technical evaluations for new materials, mold trials, and molding equipment.
Manage engineering and technician teams responsible for molding process development.
Lead capital projects for new equipment, automation cells, and process improvements.
Develop and maintain standard work instructions, setup sheets, troubleshooting guides, customer facing reports and training materials.
Train and upskill team members on technical, commercial and soft skills
Partner closely with Commercial teams to proactively look-ahead to future technologies and customer demands, capture VOC and collaborate with Milacron’s Engineering team to deliver them to market in an expediated manner
Manage a team of Validation Engineers in US and India
Attract, mentor and retain superior talent.
Validation should be considered as the expert of injection molding functions and possess superior troubleshooting skills and complete knowledge of electrical, hyd and software related to machinery function.
Mentor teams to provide Validation Reporting and systematic archiving of reports so that tests can be pulled and reviewed from prior projects.
Team will be responsible for maintaining testing equipment
Team will be responsible for establishing and maintaining a template of work instructions, documented processes/procedures and work closely with runoff for runoff instructions.
Support product development teams with performance testing as required by production and NPD Eng teams.
Create and maintain IS0 9001-compliant documentation for production runoff and machine inspection
Use Continuous Improvement methodologies to improve effectiveness of Validation function.
Track critical metrics/KPI’s and provide monthly performance of activities including correct actions when there are gaps
Lead technical evaluations mold trials, and molding equipment.
Ability to effectively communicate to all functions within Milacron.
Lead Application Team
Work closely with Commercial Team to size IMM’s for customer application