S&A Industries Corporation has opening for a Product Development Director (Ref. 5) to perform the following duties: Manage, coordinate, and exercise overall responsibility for product development programs and operations to ensure product development efforts are in accord with company goals and customer expectations; Determine if goals of the Product Development Engineering function and ensure clear achievement of the same; Determine benchmarks and targets for productivity and make decisions to ensure achieve those targets; Identify new opportunities for company products and direct product development initiatives to ensure company’s products are reflective of market need; Exercise international responsibility over technical aspects of customer programs including specifications, testing, samples, and other attributes through coordination with engineering departments in the U.S. and overseas; Oversee and direct product testing to ensure program goals are achieved and the products are fit for intended purposes; Develop the project budgeting and manage department efficiency to oversee overall departmental improvement; Evaluate financials, set program budget, and ensure projects remain within budget; Determine program and product cost and pricing and represent the company in presenting terms customers; Monitor program cost information and oversee necessary measures to ensure optimization of expenditures while keeping executive management informed; Identify opportunities for continuous improvement and present managerial proposals to implement methods of increasing revenue, reducing cost, and improving customer service; Manage and provide leadership and direction to relevant operational divisions; Recruit suitable talent to work on product development projects and recommend hiring and assignment of engineers and key personnel to fill project roles; Coordinate with managers of other departments to determine organizational strategy to ensure product development activities are synchronized to achieve customer product goals; Provide regular status updates to executive management and oversee implementation of corporate goals in product development activities. Work Schedule: 40 hours per week/8 am-5 pm/Monday-Friday Job Location: Akron, Ohio Education and Experience Requirements Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related field plus 5 years of experience as Engineer, Manager, Director, or any occupation in which the required experience was gained, plus demonstrated experience in: Expert theoretical and practical knowledge of polymers and plastic properties, including their thermal, mechanical, and chemical behaviors; Expertise in formulating and compounding of thermoplastic resins, including the strategic selection and use of process stabilizers and additives; Demonstrated ability to interpret rheology, viscoelastic and thermal behavior interpretation data to predict process flow, material performance, and guide product design; Expertise in the development and production of polymer products using of the following high-volume conversion processes: Pipe Extrusion, Injection Molding, Blow molding; Proficiency in product designing, CAD familiarity, and leading prototyping validation (PPAP/APQP) and development from concept to launch; Hands-on experience in scale up from lab to full production, including process optimization and cost reduction, troubleshooting process issues, and a deep understanding of tooling and machining for specific processes, including experience with molding simulation; Vast knowledge in ensuring compliance with international regulations and standards, aligning development with QA, safety measures and environment friendliness; Intellectual property awareness, ability to read and understand patents language, and experience with technology scouting and implementing new systems or materials; Write GP test reports, work instructions and procedures, analyze production data and lead conclusions based implementation in the organization; ERP/MES systems experience and strong command of project management common software; Ability to represent the company and negotiate with machines and material suppliers, both local and foreign as part of product/process R&D period, to structure a solid and reliable manufacturing operation; R&D and engineering managerial experience, including competency in project management and managing engineers, technicians and departmental budgets; Proven ability in training and mentoring young engineers and building high-performing, cross-functional R&D teams. Please send us your resume via email at candidates (at) placementservicesusa (dot) com with reference #0024-0007. Do not copy and paste your resume in the body email. Please attach it as a Word or PDF document. Thank you.