Manufacturing Development Engineer

Qnity•Newark, DE

2d•Onsite

About The Position

This position is located within Qnity's Tralee Park Manufacturing site in Newark, Delaware and the Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. Tralee Park produces high-performance Kalrez® Perfluoroelastomer seals in a discrete part manufacturing environment. The Manufacturing Technology (MT) team has two primary job types: Assist to Operations (ATO) and Manufacturing Development (MDV). This is an MDV role. The MDV Engineer is an integral member of the new product development team, working with R&D, Applications Engineering, and the Commercial Team to bring new materials and offerings to market. They will work most closely with R&D to formulate and test experimental compounds and are responsible for all aspects of new compound scale-up and turnover to operations, both at Tralee Park and with strategic toll manufacturers. This work includes running tests and analyzing results on compound physical properties, chemical resistance, rheology, industrial hygiene, and overall process capability. In addition to new product development, the MDV Engineer will provide support to ATO Engineers to address challenging issues or strategic opportunities at Tralee Park. This also includes providing back-up coverage for the ATO team. The ATO Engineer develops improved process instrumentation and control strategies, process safety, yields, delivery, capacity, and new parts in their product pipelines. They interact with the commercial team to resolve customer complaints/failures and to address new part capability. Further, the ATO Engineer serves as first response to plant technical issues and assists in troubleshooting process or equipment issues. The manufacturing process includes many sequential, yet standalone equipment sets (mills, extruders, presses, post-cure ovens, roll flows, etc.) requiring a robust reliability engineering and equipment maintenance program to satisfy customer service expectations for short and predictable manufacturing lead times.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science degree in Rubber Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent.
Demonstrated problem-solving and analytical ability.
Demonstrated ability to design test plans and analyze data.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to lead through influence at all levels of the organization; able to take a hands-on approach with operators and mechanics to drive change and get results.
Desire to work in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment.
Ability to positively influence others through high personal standards and operating discipline.
Ability to manage and lead both strategic long-term programs/projects, as well as address short-term operational issues.
U.S. citizenship or Permanent Resident status due to Export Control considerations.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a discrete part manufacturing environment.
Experience in elastomer processing.
Strong leadership capability.
Experience leading capital projects using corporate best practices.
Ability to thrive in a team environment and work well with non-exempt employees.
Six Sigma/LEAN certification as a Black Belt or Green Belt.

Responsibilities

Helping technicians solve manufacturing problems with part production and developing operating conditions/final scale-up for new compounds.
Providing process leadership to all areas of the plant.
Leading improvements in quality, productivity, safety, equipment reliability, and capacity utilizing appropriate tools and technologies (i.e., Six Sigma, Lean, etc.).
Being the area resource in the use and application of engineering/technical practices and technologies.
Creating technical systems and processes to improve plant capability to meet cost, quality, and production goals.
Being responsible for understanding the equipment and its effect on the quality and performance of final parts.
Providing engineering assistance to maintenance and operations, including troubleshooting, evaluation of equipment failures, and technical recommendations for repairs and upgrades.
Providing basic data for capital investments.
Leading and implementing several small (<$500M) capital projects per year.
Leading and executing PACE program deliverables.