Product Development Engineer

REA MAGNET WIRE CORP•Lafayette, IN

About The Position

The Product Development Engineer serves as the technical development lead for automotive engineering projects and leads product development activities in accordance with Rea’s product development process. The role supports and implements plans aligned with Rea’s corporate initiatives and Automotive Strategy while working with the automotive team. The engineer plans and organizes project activities from Phase 0 through Phase 5, translates customer requirements into specifications and testing activities, and leads technical work, design reviews, risk mitigation, and validation and verification planning. The role collaborates with laboratory resources on testing and with plant APQP team members through production support. It also provides a technical interface between key customers and Rea team members, supports project milestones, and helps develop production procedures and controls to meet productivity and capability metrics. Domestic travel of 20–30% and international travel of 10% are required.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical, Materials Science, or Chemical Engineering.
Five to eight years of product or process engineering experience.
Knowledge of process engineering techniques, with a strong emphasis on modern state-of-the-art equipment.
Hands-on experience with production equipment and laboratory equipment.
Appreciation for continuous improvement in design practices, testing practices, and product manufacturing.
Knowledge of project planning and management and automotive product development practices, including APQP.
Ability to solve problems and correct situations using engineering first principles.
Ability to listen, lead, and contribute as appropriate, and to work effectively in a team environment.
Effective customer communication skills.
Willingness to travel 20–30% domestically and 10% internationally.

Nice To Haves

Master of Science degree.
Six Sigma greenbelt certification.
Knowledge of magnet wire products and applications.

Responsibilities

Lead technical activities on assigned automotive product development projects.
Plan and organize project activities from Phase 0 to Phase 5 of Rea’s product development process, including preparing short-term status reports and comprehensive engineering reports.
Translate customer requirements into specifications and testing activities.
Lead DFMEAs, identify project risks, and engineer risk mitigation activities.
Identify validation and verification activities for internal design needs and customer requirements.
Lead internal design reviews in accordance with Rea’s design control practices and present findings and progress in customer design reviews.
Apply design-for-lean and Six Sigma methodologies.
Collaborate with laboratory resources to complete testing activities specified in the test plan.
Collaborate with the automotive team to build skills and augment the capabilities of Rea’s automotive group.
Assist with activities related to meeting project milestones as a core member of the Automotive Engineering group.
Ensure production procedures and controls are developed to use equipment efficiently and achieve the productivity and capability metrics in the project charter.
Collaborate with plant APQP team members to complete Rea’s product development process through Phase 5, Production Support.
Serve as the technical interface between key customers and Rea team members.
Support and implement tasks, projects, and actions in support of the Automotive Strategic Plan.