Product Development Scientist

Purpose and role of job:

•          Developing, scaling and commercializing innovative new products) and improving performance of existing products to meet/exceed customer needs.
•          Perform fundamental research in the field of non-wovens and evaluate new technology developments.
•          Contribute to strengthen Intellectual property including reviewing and drafting patents.
•          Collaborate with Business Development (BD) to identify product needs for assigned customers and/or use market trends to help guide product development.
•          Cooperate with Operations and Quality to implement new and modified products in a safe, high quality and timely manner.

Principal Accountabilities/ Responsibilities:

•          Develop innovative nonwoven materials for hygiene, medical and other industrial markets. 
•          Work closely with Business Development to:
•    Identify customer opportunities for new and/or improved products.
•    Develop an innovation pipeline of new materials/products with a competitive advantage. 
•          Establish and continuously grow technical capability for the assigned technical area of responsibility through the following activities:
•   Build relationships with raw material and equipment suppliers to identify and implement new technical approaches that have a high potential to deliver  new proprietary products.
•    Evaluate relevant IP to identify competitive activities and recommend responses.
•    Evaluate consumer hygiene products and consumer trends to identify new material and product directions.
•    Build strong working relationships with the Global Innovation team to be able to identify opportunities for new technologies to meet customer and consumer needs.
•          Work closely with customers’ and suppliers’ technical staff to establish common test procedures and ensure that our products meet requirements.
•          Work with Operations and Quality Teams to optimize the technical and economic performance of existing products.
•          Maintain thorough documentation of relevant technical activities.
•          Product testing, lab work as necessary.
•          Position is based at our plant in Hazleton, PA.
•          Travel to internal production sites, customer and Supplier as necessary.  Some International travel may be required.

Education and experience requirements:

•         Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Physics or a related Engineering field; Advanced degree (Master’s or PhD) is preferred.
•         2-5 years in product/material development.  Experience in polymer science and/or nonwovens is preferred.
•         Good written and spoken communication; fluency in English required

Physical Requirements:

•         Must be able to walk the facility for the duration of the shift
•         May need to grasp, hold, carry, lift, crawl, kneel, squat occasionally during shift
•         Must be able to climb without issue with heights up to three (3) levels
•         Withstand temperature changes between high temperatures and moderate to low temperatures
•         Hearing protection, safety glasses, safety shoes and hard hat required in designated areas