S&T Leadership Program Professional - Wood Composites (2026)

Owens Corning • West Chicago, IL

24d • $90,000 - $110,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Join an organization that believes that every employee owns a piece of our bold growth goals and ultimate success. We are a market-leading innovator that has placed on the Fortune 500®. Owens Corning is devoted to delivering sustainable solutions across our three business segments while striving to ensure our people and products make the world a better place. We take pride in having an inclusive and diverse workplace with employees around the globe. A holistic sense of community exists across our entire organization as our talent grows globally. We are a company that fully recognizes the importance of paving a path to a sustainable and safe enterprise through investing in our people. Our desire to make an impactful difference in the world flows from top down to all levels of the organization. By being a company that instills pride within each and every employee, we aspire to build market-leading businesses; global in scope - human in scale.

About The Program:
The Science & Technology Leadership Program (STLP) provides you with a powerful development journey and opportunities to make significant business impact. This is a three-year development program with projects focused on building and enhancing technical expertise and capabilities in critical business areas. The program prepares you for future success and development with a 1-year training curriculum, senior technical level mentors, and connections to senior leadership.

We are seeking a forward-thinking scientist to join our Wood Composite team in Owens Corning’s Doors business.
The candidate in this role will be responsible for leading process development initiatives related to interior and exterior composite products. This aligns with our organizational goal of achieving operational excellence, which includes expertise in various composite manufacturing processes. The role involves identifying the best-fit technologies for our business, conducting rigorous testing and evaluation, qualifying, and implementing these processes in production. The candidate will collaborate with multiple teams across the company and provide leadership characterized by integrity and accountability.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Wood Science and Engineering, Materials Science, Composite Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field is required; a Ph.D. is preferred.
• Strong knowledge and experience in wood composite materials and manufacturing processes.
• Strong communication skills and ability to translate complex technical concepts into actionable strategies
• Willingness to travel as needed (15-25%) to support project work.

Nice To Haves

• Experience and expertise in process technologies relevant to wood composite manufacturing, such as wood fiber refining, binder addition, hot pressing, adhesive bonding, and surface finishing techniques for MDF, HDF, engineered wood, or particleboard.
• Experience with automation and control systems used in wood composite manufacturing to enhance efficiency and precision.
• Understanding of the dimensional stability of wood-based components and its effect on product performance.
• Proficiency in implementing and monitoring quality control procedures to maintain high standards in wood composite door production.
• Capability to conduct process failure analysis and material testing to improve product reliability and performance.
• Knowledge of industry standards, building codes, and compliance requirements related to wood composite materials and respective manufacturing.

Responsibilities

• Wood Composite Process Innovation: Lead efforts to develop and optimize process technologies for wood composites, wood composite facings and identify cost reduction, opportunities in design, materials, and manufacturing processes for product consistency and quality.
• Conduct prototype process evaluations by designing experiments, analyzing results, formulating conclusions, and making recommendations.
• Oversee the design, testing, and implementation of manufacturing processes for wood composite doors, focusing on efficiency, durability, and performance.
• Develop and implement testing protocols to ensure product quality and performance.
• Coordinate with suppliers, external and in-house test labs, and maintain communication with stakeholders.
• Document new processes and procedures through invention records, equipment specifications, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and job hazard analyses (JHAs).
• Prepare technical reports, presentations, and documentation to communicate research findings and project progress.
• Lead or participate in safety, quality, productivity, or housekeeping improvement programs (e.g., 5S, Kaizen events). Stay up to date with industry trends, emerging technologies, and advancements in wood composite materials and other wood based products.
• Wood Composite Process Transfer to Manufacturing: Oversee process definition, purchase, installation, and commissioning of process capabilities at Owens Corning production facilities for sustaining innovation and new product development, including some programming of process controls.
• Design modular and scalable process solutions that can be adapted across multiple Owens Corning facilities.
• Lead the scale-up of new or modified process and product technologies in our manufacturing plants by designing and conducting production trials, resolving process issues, qualifying the process, and ensuring successful implementation.
• Use statistical process control (SPC) and machine learning techniques to identify trends, predict failures, and optimize production.
• Interface with manufacturing engineering and production technicians to improve processes, troubleshoot issues, and facilitate operations across all manufacturing plants.
• Create training materials and conduct workshops for plant personnel on new processes and technologies. Establish best practices and process documentation repositories for continuous learning.
• Demonstrate a Commitment to Safety: Commit to our safety stand: all accidents are preventable, safety is everyone’s responsibility, and working safely is a condition of employment.
• Ensure rigorous compliance with standard safety procedures and OC corporate policies.
• Proactively identify and resolve hazards in the workplace and improve the safety of our processes.
• Actively participates in team safety activities and incorporates safety into all trials and installations.
• Conduct risk and safety assessments on new processes and equipment.
• Strategic Integration & Thought Leadership: Contribute to the evolution of Owens Corning’s digital twin advanced modeling capabilities.
• Author internal white papers, participate in external publications, and represent the team in cross-functional and industry forums.

Benefits

• We also offer a substantial benefits package including insurance (medical/dental/vision/life/disability/supplemental offerings), 401k (company contribution regardless of employee participation – plus match), liberal paid time off (vacation, personal floating and standard holidays), Employee Assistance Services, Stock Purchase Program – and more.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level