Group Leader, Polymer Processing and Design

Founded in 1920, Eastman is a global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With the purpose of enhancing the quality of life in a material way, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability. The company’s innovation-driven growth model takes advantage of world-class technology platforms, deep customer engagement, and differentiated application development to grow its leading positions in attractive end markets such as transportation, building and construction, and consumables. As a globally inclusive company, Eastman employs approximately 13,000 people around the world and serves customers in more than 100 countries. The company had 2025 revenue of approximately $8.8 billion and is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA. For more information, visit www.eastman.com.

Description

The Group Leader, Polymer Processing & Design, leads a global team of processing and design engineers supporting Eastman’s Specialty Plastics businesses. The group partners closely with field based technical service, application development and sales teams to solve critical customer challenges and enable application growth across a wide range of polymer processing technologies, including injection molding, blow molding, extrusion, calendaring, and related forming techniques. 

This role is responsible for building and sustaining a world class Processing & Design Center of Excellence (COE) by integrating deep understanding of polymer flow, rheology, solidification behavior, and structure–property–performance relationships with strong competence in part design, structural performance, and failure behavior of polymer components. The group delivers differentiated, application relevant technical insights that accelerate customer adoption, enable robust product designs, and strengthen Eastman’s reputation as a solutions driven specialty materials leader. This position is located onsite at our Kingsport, TN headquarters. 

Responsibilities

As Leader
•    Understand Specialty Plastics technical and business strategies and translate them into clear priorities, work plans, and effective resource allocation.
•    Create and communicate a vision for a Processing & Design COE that supports long term business growth, customer success, and technical differentiation.
•    Ensure every team member understands their assignments and the impact of their work on short  and long term business performance.
•    Partner with business, technical service, and sales leaders to evaluate technical options and solution pathways for executing or modifying strategy in response to customer needs.
•    Lead development of core competencies spanning polymer processing physics, application focused modeling, and performance driven part design.
•    Champion proposals for investments in people, tools, and modeling capabilities (including CAE and polymer flow simulation software) needed to deliver high impact customer solutions.
•    Inform and influence division leadership, gatekeeping teams, and industry teams with clear, credible, technically grounded recommendations.
•    Foster strong, effective cross functional relationships within Technology and across Commercial and Manufacturing organizations globally.
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As Coach
•    Attract, engage, develop, and retain a high performing, globally diverse team of processing and design engineers.
•    Provide technical mentoring in polymer processing, application development, part performance, and failure analysis considerations.
•    Ensure appropriate training and capability development in key technologies, modeling tools, intellectual property processes, customer engagement, and leadership behaviors.
•    Identify and develop key contributors and future leaders through purposeful assignments, cross functional exposure, and succession planning.
•    Enable project leaders and senior technical contributors to develop others and elevate the overall technical capability of the group.
•    Actively use performance management processes to set expectations, provide feedback, and recognize impactful technical and customer contributions.
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As Manager
•    Manage group budgets and resources effectively while enab