Product Development Specialist

3M•Austin, TX

6d•Onsite

About The Position

3M Electrical Markets Division is seeking a creative, diligent, and collaborative product development engineer to lead and support product development initiatives from concept through commercialization. The role applies technical expertise, customer insight, and structured product development practices to create differentiated solutions that meet business, market, regulatory, and manufacturing requirements. It requires broad technical knowledge and collaboration across functions and geographies, with a focus on bringing new products to market, developing business platforms, and sustaining existing platforms. The position is based on-site at the 3M Center in Austin, Texas, at least four days per week. Travel may include up to 15% domestically and internationally, and relocation assistance may be authorized. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the country of employment without visa sponsorship. The role may involve direct or indirect access to information and technologies subject to U.S. Export Control Laws.

Requirements

Master’s degree, completed and verified before starting, in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Polymer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field, and at least three years of experience in product development, materials development, process development, technical service, application engineering, or a related technical function; OR a Ph.D. in one of those fields, completed and verified before starting, and at least one year of such experience.
Demonstrated ability to apply scientific or engineering principles to solve technical problems.
Experience planning experiments, analyzing data, and documenting technical results.
Ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to work with minimal supervision and in teams.
Ability to adapt to shifting demands, timelines, and priorities.
Willingness to travel, mainly within the United States.
Must be legally authorized to work in the country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status.

Nice To Haves

Experience developing products for electronics, advanced materials, films, liners, adhesives, coatings, specialty chemicals, RFID, tapes, or related markets.
Knowledge of product commercialization processes, stage-gate development, or design control practices.
Experience with statistical tools, design of experiments, or data analysis software.
Familiarity with scale-up, manufacturing transfer, or process capability evaluation.
Experience working directly with customers or translating voice-of-customer input into technical requirements.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and priorities.
Strong understanding of quality systems, product specifications, and technical documentation practices.
Ability to identify innovation opportunities and contribute to intellectual property generation.
Good understanding of solvent coating and drying of polymers, molding, adhesive curing, corona treating, extrusion coating, and e-beam curing.
Good understanding of statistical methods for data analysis.
Familiarity with raw material substitutions and the 3M change management process, NPI process, SKU creation, BOM creation, PFMEA, DFMEA, HOQ, test method development, MSA, capability studies, data analysis tools such as Minitab or Excel, root cause analysis, and Six Sigma.

Responsibilities

Translate customer needs and market requirements into technical product specifications.
Design, plan, and execute experiments to evaluate materials, formulations, processes, or product performance.
Develop prototypes, conduct feasibility studies, and support scale-up activities.
Explore and develop novel technologies and approaches to accelerate business growth and maintain competitiveness.
Travel occasionally to manufacturing facilities to develop and validate material specifications and support new product introduction commercialization.
Contribute to change management related to product design changes, application development, life cycle management, product and quality improvement, supply changes, regulatory requirements, and cost reduction.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify and solve complex problems and apply or implement new or modified chemistries.
Review and develop business-level intellectual property, including proprietary advances, returns on investment, patents, and trade secrets.
Document experimental data and observations in technical notebooks or electronic files.
Comply with corporate policies, procedures, and security standards while performing assigned duties.
Support a strong Environmental Health and Safety culture by following safety policies, identifying hazards, and engaging in continuous improvement.