Sr. New Product Development Engineer

Weyerhaeuser•Olympia, WA

6d•Remote

About The Position

The Senior New Product Development Engineer leads the evaluation, development, validation, and commercialization of new wood-based products and applications. Combining engineering expertise, customer insight, building-science knowledge, and disciplined problem-solving, the role assesses feasibility and risk, guides complex technical work, and recommends where the business should invest, scale, modify, or discontinue development. Working with limited oversight, the engineer builds alignment across engineering, manufacturing, commercial, customer, and external partner groups. NOTE: This role is a fully remote, work-from-home position, provided you are currently based in, or planning to move to, one of the following states: MS, AL, AR, OK, LA, NC, OR, WA, WV, MI, or MT. This role is not open to individuals who live in other states or countries.

Requirements

Must possess a strong passion, a nearly dogged approach toward researching technical issues in the pursuit of finding solutions for our direct or indirect customers.
A positive attitude towards the art of the possible.
Experience across multiple product-development stages, including opportunity assessment, requirements, design analysis, prototyping, testing, validation, field evaluation, commercialization, or post-launch improvement.
Knowledge of manufacturability, customer applications, building practices, codes, standards, and product-performance requirements.
Demonstrated success independently leading complex engineering projects or technical workstreams, coordinating contributors, and meeting commitments.
Commitment to safety, integrity, inclusion, sustainability, quality, and responsible use of company-approved digital and AI tools.
Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in Civil, Structural, Mechanical, Materials, Manufacturing, or related Engineering; Wood Science, Forest Products; or another related technical discipline.
Professional Engineer license required.
Typically, seven to ten years of progressively responsible engineering experience in product development, product engineering, applied research, building products, construction systems, manufacturing, materials, or a related technical field.

Nice To Haves

Travel may be required for field research, customer and specifier meetings, testing, external collaboration, and industry activities.

Responsibilities

Lead technical assessment of market problems, customer needs, and new product or application opportunities.
Translate customer, field, builder, specifier, installer, and channel insights into technical requirements, design criteria, performance expectations, and development priorities.
Evaluate application fit, technical feasibility, manufacturability, market readiness, assumptions, constraints, and implementation risks.
Recommend whether concepts should advance to prototyping, validation, field testing, commercialization, further investigation, or discontinuation.
Monitor building practices, codes, standards, sustainability expectations, and industry trends that may create product opportunities or risks.
Provide senior engineering leadership from problem definition and concept evaluation through testing, launch readiness, and post-launch improvement.
Develop specifications, design inputs, analyses, prototypes, test methods, measurable acceptance criteria, and technical documentation.
Lead multidisciplinary technical workstreams and coordinate testing with internal teams, laboratories, universities, suppliers, and engineering partners.
Analyze data, investigate performance gaps, identify root causes, and recommend changes to product design, materials, processes, or applications.
Ensure decisions are supported by accurate, appropriately validated evidence and integrate safety, quality, code, compliance, sustainability, and confidentiality requirements throughout development.
Partner with Sales, Marketing, Product Management, Manufacturing, Finance, Supply Chain, Field Engineering, and customer-facing teams to align technical decisions with customer value and business objectives.
Support commercialization through performance data, application guidance, risk assessments, technical documentation, training, customer education, and launch support.
Communicate technical status, assumptions, unresolved questions, alternatives, risks, and recommendations to technical and business audiences.
Build productive relationships with customers, specifiers, universities, research institutions, engineering firms, laboratories, and industry organizations.
Review technical work, coach less-experienced professionals, influence decisions without formal authority, and escalate significant safety, performance, compliance, financial, environmental, or reputational risks.