Engineering Technical Manager (Interior Trim)

Summit Polymers, Inc.•Portage, MI

About The Position

Summit Polymers is a leading, global supplier of automotive interior systems including consoles, door panels, and instrument panels, with over 50 years serving the industry. They deliver engineering and product excellence to customers, on time, in budget, with the latest innovations. A career with Summit Polymers offers challenging, meaningful work and a culture that values continuous improvement, customer service, and quality, focusing on setting people on career paths rather than just filling seats. The Engineering Technical Manager is a leadership role responsible for guiding a team of Product Engineers and Designers in the development of automotive interior trim, including instrument panels, center consoles, door panels, hard trim, and air registers. This position is crucial for driving engineering excellence, fostering innovation, and ensuring flawless execution from concept through launch. The ideal candidate should be an expert in Lean Product Development and Set-Based Concurrent Engineering, with a strong desire for continuous knowledge growth and setting new standards of technical excellence.

Requirements

B.S degree in engineering and 5 years of industrial project management experience or some college coursework in an engineering curriculum and 10 years of progressive technical experience leading to and including industrial project management.
A minimum score of 50 on the Wonderlic Select Assessment (Traditional score of 26 on the Cognitive portion).
Agreement to complete all post-hire required training.

Nice To Haves

Automotive related industrial project management experience.
Door panel experience.

Responsibilities

Lead and mentor a team of Product Engineers and Designers in developing innovative, cost-effective interior trim solutions.
Provide technical expertise and leadership in part design, GD&T and injection molding.
Work to meet all internal and external requirements including timing, dimensional accuracy, product validation and PPAP.
Drive the application of lean product development principles to improve speed, quality, and collaboration.
Champion best practices/standards and continuous improvement across design and development products and processes.
Develop deep product expertise and serve as a subject matter expert for interior systems.
Work cross-functionally with Program Management, Advanced Manufacturing, and Plant Launch Teams to ensure alignment and flawless program execution.
Lead reflections and benchmarking activities.
Support sales, marketing and new product quoting activities.
Other tasks as assigned.