Senior R&D Engineer - Polymers Center of Excellence
About The Position
As a Senior R&D Engineer within the Polymer Center of Excellence, you will support the development, characterization, and optimization of polymer materials, coatings, and manufacturing processes for medical device solutions in Stryker’s Peripheral Vascular business. The role applies engineering knowledge through hands-on prototyping, testing, material characterization, and problem-solving, while collaborating with cross-functional teams to advance products from concept through commercialization. The engineer will help expand laboratory capabilities, support early-stage prototype assembly and rapid design-build-test iterations, develop and evaluate materials and processes, execute experiments and testing, investigate performance issues, and prepare technical documentation. The position is onsite and includes 20% travel.
Requirements
- Bachelor of Science in Materials Science, Polymer Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering or technical discipline.
- At least 2 years of professional, academic, or research experience working with polymer materials, polymer processing, polymer manufacturing, or polymer-based product development.
- Working knowledge of polymer material science, including polymer properties, material behavior, processing techniques, and their relationship to product or application performance.
- Hands-on experience supporting prototyping, manufacturing or process development, or fabrication activities involving polymer materials.
- Familiarity with material characterization techniques such as DSC, DMA, FTIR, SEM, surface characterization, and microscopy.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with polymer materials, coatings, materials engineering, and/or medical device product development.
- Hands-on experience with rapid prototyping, experimental design, or development testing in laboratory or manufacturing environments.
- Experience evaluating or selecting materials based on mechanical properties, manufacturability, processing requirements, and product performance.
- Experience using engineering problem-solving methods to investigate material, process, or product performance issues.
- Familiarity with CAD software such as SolidWorks, Creo, AutoCAD, or equivalent.
- Ability to document technical work and communicate engineering findings and recommendations to cross-functional partners.
Responsibilities
- Identify, evaluate, install, and implement equipment, fixtures, and processes to support Polymer Center of Excellence laboratory capabilities.
- Assemble early-stage prototypes and components using small-scale polymer manufacturing processes.
- Research, develop, evaluate, and optimize polymer materials, coatings, and manufacturing processes for medical device applications.
- Conduct rapid prototyping to evaluate product concepts, materials, and processes and support development decisions.
- Plan and execute material characterization and testing, including mechanical, thermal, chemical, and surface analyses.
- Support root cause investigations into material, coating, process, and product performance using analytical and data-driven problem-solving techniques.
- Evaluate polymer materials, coatings, and surface treatments against design requirements, biocompatibility considerations, manufacturability, and performance needs.
- Design and execute experiments to understand material behavior, process variability, and product performance using engineering and statistical principles.
- Collaborate with R&D, Quality, Manufacturing, Regulatory, and other partners to develop and transfer polymer and coating processes from concept through commercialization.
- Develop technical reports, test protocols, engineering documentation, and design recommendations supporting engineering decisions, design controls, regulatory requirements, and knowledge sharing.
- Apply engineering principles to solve technical challenges involving materials, processes, prototypes, and product performance.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
