Product Engineer

Package Description

Overall Responsibility

New Product Development

• Work within cross-functional U.S. based teams to develop concepts to deliver new products to market on-time ,on-cost, and on-scope. Develop concepts and fully specify components to meet internal and external customer product wants and needs.
• Collaborate and manage activities with internal Britax Asia team and external co-development partners to deliver assigned projects.

Sustaining Engineering

• Provide engineering support to existing products currently in production.  These activities include technical problem solving, design & process improvements, value analysis/value-engineering, and testing & analysis to ensure performance objectives are met.
• Plan and drive activities to ensure new standards, such as FMVSS, CPSC, etc. are met ahead of deadlines.
• Help maintain and improve engineering processes and procedures to drive efficiency and accuracy in our R&D activities.

Key Task and Responsibilities

• Lead project design and development efforts to deliver consumer-winning products to market.  The successful candidate will be able to understand the needs from a consumer perspective and translate them to engineering requirements. 
• Plan projects and drive progress to follow the Britax Milestone process.
• Develop engineering specifications and documentation that meets product criteria, design intent, and performance requirements. 
• Provide analytical, structural, and functional engineering guidance in support of Designers, Core Teams, and Co-Development Partners in the creation of new and modified product designs. 
• Constructively deal with the ambiguity and engineering trade-offs inherent in new product development.
• Conceptualize innovative engineering solutions using 3D CAD; Creo (Pro-Engineer) and/or Solidworks.
• Work within the Windchill PDM framework to implement design changes.
• Lead presentations of engineering concepts for design reviews. 
• Work with Quality and Compliance to ensure the integrity of new and existing products in terms of performance, specifications and reliability
• Investigate, recommend and implement cost saving using value analysis techniques.
• Perform trade-off analysis of alternate design solutions to select the best cost, best quality solutions to move forward.
• Develop and lead DFMEA (Design Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) and DFM/A (Design for Manufacturing/Assembly) initiatives.
• Provide project task direction to team support personnel and co-development partners to achieve objectives.
• Prepare and manage schedules, budgets, and manpower requirements for assigned projects.
• Develop and implement specifications and procedures to assure compliance with current company and governmental standards, specifications and regulations.
• Lead initiatives to resolve product warranty, production, process, and supplier issues.
• Establish and maintain open channels of communication with internal and external partners.  Support resolution of issues with external government or consumer advocate parties as needed.
• Travel as required up to approximately 25%.

Skills and Attributes

• Ability to thrive in a fast paced environment.
• Experience in translating subjective product requirements to measurable specifications, preferably in consumer products.
• Demonstrated delivery of products from concept to production in a cross-functional environment.
• Experienced in working with external co-development partners (Asia-based preferred).
• Proficient with 3D CAD Modeling (Creo or Solidworks preferred).
• Working knowledge of injection molded plastics, sheet-metal, and other manufacturing technologies.
• Remains open to new ideas and makes use of emerging technologies that enable engineers to work and communicate in new ways.
• Ability to work in a team setting by supporting the overall goals, actively participating, and valuing the unique skills and contributions of other team members. 
• A self-starter who commits to and owns responsibility for timely completion of assigned projects or deliverables.
• Well organized:  ability to schedule and track multiple projects.
• Ability to explain technical matters to non-technical oriented people. 
• Works to establish and maintain open and honest channels of communication with internal and external team members.
• Understand the corporation’s values, goals, and objectives along with key financial drivers including EVA (Economic Value Added).

Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering (mechanical preferred)
• 5-7 years experience in new product development or continuous improvement of existing products.