Sr. Product Development Engineer

Position Overview:

The Sr. Product Development Engineer will work within R&D’s New Product Development (NPD) team to develop Retail, Digital, Access, and Material Handling products. This role is accountable for providing technical leadership and for performing activities pertaining to the planning, design, validation, manufacturing, and field support of products from concept to production implementation. Will work closely with members of the sales, marketing, and product management team to create products and solutions for our customers. The Sr. Product Development Engineer will be responsible for carrying out the duties of the R&D department, including design, research, prototyping, engineering documentation, estimating and process improvement. 

Company and Opportunity Overview:

Wanzl North America’s vision is to be the leading entrepreneurial player in terms of market share, agility, and game-changing solutions.  WNA is a solution provider, creating value along the supply chain of our customers, from the online purchase to the delivery to their customers.   

WNA, which includes the Technibilt, French Company, and Cari-All brands, is headquartered in Newton, North Carolina. With nearly 500 employees and 160 MUSD of sales, WNA focuses on the retail, distribution, and airport market segments with marquee customers such as Walmart, Amazon, and most large grocers and retailers. In addition to being the largest manufacturer of shopping carts in North America, WNA has three (3) additional main product segments as well as a service business, providing turnkey solutions for asset protection and point-of-sale, as well as materials handling.   

WNA is part of the Wanzl GmbH & Holding KGaA, headquartered in Germany and has 12 plants in 8 countries and more than a dozen sales and distribution centers worldwide, providing comprehensive, solutions-driven service and expert knowledge of local markets for customers across the globe through their 360° service. 

Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Technical lead of a small team of engineers to develop products and solutions. 

• Owns technical direction and ensures products meet desired specifications, schedules, cost requirements, and release to production. 

• Support discussion with the customer to ensure the solution being developed meets their requirements. 

• Ensures product is compliant to safety and regulatory requirements

• Leads design reviews  

• Participate on cross-functional teams (industrial design, project management, product marketing, sales, operations) to define product requirements, project schedules, and cost targets. 

• Develops 3D models, 2D drawings, BOMs. 

• Designing for manufacturability, reliability, serviceability, and cost 

• Perform data analysis, design of experiments (DOE), product verification/validation, and analyzes test results and issue reports with results, analysis, and recommendations 

• Participate in value analysis, cost analysis, and quality improvement efforts 

• Developing and performing component verification testing and product validation testing 

• Rapid development and iteration of full-scale prototypes to validate requirements 

• Test prototypes, evaluate new technologies and perform competitive product analysis 

• Provide frequent communication to Project Manager regarding project execution status, schedule and financial status, and scope changes 

• Development of internal processes to ensure that “best practices” are documented for fellow engineers to follow 

• Provide design direction to Operations and supports NPI as needed 

• Champion NPD process to ensure success 

• Train and mentor designers and engineers within the team 

Skills and Experience: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field from an accredited institution with at least 7 years of relevant experience 

• Extremely strong mechanical aptitude and ability to conceptualize and create mechanical designs 

• Experience leading a team of engineers 

• Proficiency in using solid modeling CAD design software (SolidWorks highly preferred) 

• Experience with Finite Element Analysis (FEA) stress analysis methods 

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with specific ability to write at a professional and technical level 

• Strong customer relationship skills 

• Ability to problem-solve quickly and effectively 

• Ability to produce under pressure of timelines and customer demands 

• Ability to prioritize and work independently to work on multiple small projects simultaneously ensuring all key dates are met while maintaining the highest level of quality 

• 20% travel required 

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