Project Engineer

Company Description

The Smart Components North America Division, within the Illinois Tool Work (ITW) Automotive segment, drives profitability by leveraging its innovative solutions and application engineering. Our Smart Components products are made up of fuel housings, door and safety handles, innovative Capless solutions, and EV charge ports for major OEMs around the world. We have multiple manufacturing locations across North America: Frankfort, Mokena, and Richton Park, Illinois as well as Saltillo and Aguascalientes, Mexico.

As an Enterprise, Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) is a global Fortune 200 diversified manufacturing company that delivers specialized expertise, innovative thinking, and value-added products to meet critical customer needs in a variety of industries.   ITW, with approximately 14.1 billion dollars in global revenues, operates 7 major segments with businesses in 57 countries that employ approximately 45,000 women and men. These talented individuals, many of whom have specialized engineering or scientific expertise, contribute to our global leadership in innovation. We are proud of our broad portfolio of more than 16,000 active patents.

Job Description

• Program management:  Plans and formulates project timetable after defining customer needs.
• Communicates directly with customers (Automotive OEMs) and with global teams.
• Coordinates activities concerned with technical developments, scheduling and resolving engineering design and test problems reporting results and status as needed.
• Innovates creative product solutions to meet customer needs and works with internal patent department.
• Manages and develops suppliers in various fields of manufacturing concerning metal, plastic injection mold makers and rubber industries.
• Forms production, QA and engineering teams dedicated to specific phases or aspects of project such as technical studies, product design, preparation of specifications and technical plans and product testing.
• Reviews product design for compliance with engineering principles, company standards and customer contract requirements and related specifications.
• Acts as facilitator to ensure commitments to customer are met in a timely manner and within budget.
• Maintains personal knowledge in product, application and processes appropriate to projects undertaken.
• Works with Sales to develop new business opportunities.
• Review drawing changes, deviations, and Engineering Change Notices
• Coordinates parts design and tool design activities per customer specification
• Responsible for financial budget for individual preproduction and development projects
• Follows IATF 16949 procedures if customer required and descriptions per the ITW handbook.
•  Interprets engineering specifications
• Authors DFMEA’s, PFMEAs and champions 8D problem solving activities
• Review RFQ package:  Identify customer part numbers, create bills of materials, derive part weights, evaluate annual volumes, key dates, assembly plant locations.
• Develop BOM’s (bill of Materials)
• Interpret customer specifications.
• Prepare customer reviews, technical presentations and open issues list.
• Develop design validation test plans.
• Develop and maintain tooling, assembly and test equipment financial plans and documents.
• Participate in regular APQP activities and meetings and AAR events.
• Create FEA reports.
• Lead customer, supplier and ITW tooling and product design signoffs and kick offs.
• Lead RFQ activities with tooling, automation and gauge suppliers.
• Nominate supplier:  Tooling/Parts/Gauges/Automation.
• Develop packaging plans per customer requirements.
• Support customer build and launch activities.
• Monitor tooling, gauge and assembly concepts according to ITW standards.
• Maintain customer milestone timing in customer portals.
• Issue molding sample requests.
• Monitor serial part history.
• Monitor release of production to operations.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Engineering or Engineering Technology with an emphasis in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent experience
• 3+ years of experience in engineering and project management in a manufacturing environment.
• Project management experience preferably Tier 1 automotive.  PMI PMP certification preferred.
• Knowledge in Plastic Injection Molding part design, performance, material selection, tooling technology
• Must be adaptable, flexible, organized and act with a sense of urgency and able to operate independently
• Must have demonstrated analytical/problem-solving, project management/task planning, engineering risk assessment, creativity/innovation and technical leadership skills.
• Must be able to make sound, logical judgments using deduc