Product Development Engineer

PURPOSE OF POSITION

The purpose of the Product Development Engineer position is to manage manufacturing engineering projects from start to finish. This position will be the primary internal contact for customers and suppliers. This position is responsible for reviewing customer product design, managing customer engineering data and assessing feasibility. Product design engineers are also responsible for providing design feedback to the customer. The position will maintain and improve manufacturing processes, lead root cause analyses and corrective action teams, and perform preventative and predictive maintenance.

NATURE AND SCOPE OF POSITION

The Product Development position will report directly to the Project Management and Process Engineering Manager. The position interacts with Managers, Supervisors, Team Leaders, Operators, Skilled Trades, and Quality personnel from all departments in order to assure an ongoing state of the art and high quality manufacturing processes which meets all defined requirements.

This position will provide the technical leadership, guidance and expertise to ensure all manufacturing processes follow best practices as defined by the PWO Group. This position works in conjunction with the PWO Group and Engineering Teams to understand and to ensure that all international codes, customer and PWO Group specifications and standards are executed to maintain the best practice as defined by the PWO Group.

This position is responsible for his/her own work and assignments and may direct the work of others within all other departments. The incumbent must be able to travel internationally and be able to adapt to different cultures.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Completion of a post-secondary education program in Mechanical Engineering/Technical program is required. A Professional Engineer (P Eng) designation is an asset.

Knowledge and Skills: Strong engineering knowledge, both practical and theoretical, with a focus in manufacturing, assembly and welding techniques are required. Strong understanding of differences in standards between North America and Europe are necessary. Solid knowledge in robotics is required. Strong analytical thinking and problem solving skills are essential.

Communication Skills: Strong oral and written communication skills are required for normal technical/business communication, both internally and externally. Must be able to use new technologies and various media to communicate effectively and efficiently with the headquarters, external institutions, systems suppliers, and customers. Strong computer skills are essential.

Nature and Length of Experience: At least three (3) years of experience in a process engineering role in a similar automotive production environment is required.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Distribute and maintain engineering data from customers (CAD data, prints, BOMs, etc.)
• Review for manufacturing feasibility and provide design feedback including designing CAD model proposals
• Prepare component prints for stamping, subcontracting, purchased parts, work-in-progress, etc. using customer data
• Discuss tolerancing, GD&T, specifications, and classifications (significant and critical characteristics) with the customer
• Calculate and estimate processing costs including defining process concept, weld/machine time, operator time (MTM), investment costs, tooling costs, Poke Yoke costs, cost of quality, etc.
• Goal achievement: Project leader is responsible for ensuring that the product is manufactured to the specified terms and conditions; within budget, all requirements achieved, within timeline and within quality.
• Part calculation: Coordination of the calculation for stampings, purchased parts and the calculation for welding and other processes, and all logistics costs. Responsible for final part calculation and technical presentation to customers in coordination with Key Account Managers.
• Investment planning: Coordination of manufacturing equipment; fixtures, gauges and packaging.
• Coordination of all project team members: Lead the project team, review all open issues, knowledgeably support of all responsibilities such as development, processes, Q-systems and calculation.
• Coordination with all departments at PWO Canada: Cost overview and control.
• Provides technical leadership, (from the front), guidance and expertise to ensure the manufacturing processes follow best practices as defined by the PWO Group.
• Works together with Project Managers and Quality Engineers on new and continuous improvement projects from the start to finish of each project.
• Understands and ensures that all international codes, customer and PWO Group specifications and standards are executed to maintain the best practices as defined by the PWO Group.
• Creates protocols and specifications, manages the progress of processes from design to implementation, and gets the necessary sign-offs prior to start of production.
• Aligns and implements continuous improvement activities to improve Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) including performance index.
• Analyzes all processes and continuous improvement initiatives for safety, preventative maintenance, process optimization, and upgrade purposes.
• Aids continuous improvement activities through the review of current work instructions, procedures, and assembly schedules to ensure the best practice as defined by the PWO Group, (set this up via an audit schedule).
• Evaluates existing and future state product designs and their processes, (capability, sustainability and capacity), at the appropriate stages of fabrication of the production systems by integrating with the Product/Process Engineering and Project Management teams to achieve the highest levels of safety, quality and production (our target is zero defects and zero ppm).
• Develops and revises existing work instructions required in the Work Area Reference manuals for each of the work centers on the production floor.
• Provides training when implementing new or changes to work instructions that directly affect the processes and production personnel at the applicable production work centers.
• Generates and archives continuous improvement activities, root cause analyses, countermeasure activities, 8D reports, and training procedures to show a record of these activities.
• Follows and performs to the processes and instructions outlined in the Process House that are applicable to the department.
• Compliance to all HR company policies and procedures.
• Performs all duties within the 5S standard.
• Responsible for working safely, complying with safety policies and procedures, and wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) required in the designated areas as per company policy.
• Responsible for working safely and keeping a safe work area for themselves and fellow employees. Reporting any unsafe working conditions, practices, and work-related injuries immediately to his/her Manager.
• Any other job-related duties as may be assigned from time to time by the Manager and Management team.

PWO Canada INC. values diversity in our workforce, as well as in our customers, suppliers, and others. We provide equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees and do not discriminate on the basis of race, ancestry, place of origin, color, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, a record of offenses, marital status, family status, disability or any other characteristic protected by local law.

PWO Canada INC. welcomes and encourages applications from everyone. Accommodations may available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. If you would like to request a specific accommodation because of a disability or a medical need, please advise the Recruiter or Human Resources Associate when you are selected to participate in the recruitment process.