Senior Lab Engineer

Company Description

ITW (Illinois Tool Works Inc.) is a Fortune 200 company and is one of the world’s leading diversified manufacturers of specialized industrial equipment, automotive components, consumables, and related service businesses. ITW businesses serve local customers and markets around the globe, with operations in 55 countries and an employee base of more than 46,000 women and men who adhere to the highest ethical standards. 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 17,000 granted and pending patents.

ITW Residential and Renovation Construction provides Industry leading, premium branded, cordless nailing systems and fastening solutions, that deliver superior productivity and reliability to meet the needs of professional remodelers and residential framers, with a widely available product portfolio at their preferred retail or dealer outlets The 80 focus for the division is aggressive market growth while sustaining profitability. ​ 

ITW offers its employees a path for advancement, a competitive salary, and a comprehensive benefits package designed to help employees care for themselves, their families, and their futures.

Job Description

The ITW Residential & Renovation Product Development team is responsible for creating new innovative products and maintaining existing fastening solutions for the professional construction contractors under industry leading brands like GRK, Tapcon, Paslode, and Teks. Reporting to the Product Development Manager you will be responsible for managing the Engineering Lab in support of the Division’s product development and sustaining efforts through the development and execution of engineering experiments with oversight for the lab team, test request prioritization, cross functional communication, and resource management. This is a high visibility role that provides the opportunity to have a direct impact on the development and qualification of new and existing products. This position requires an individual who can effectively combine a strong commitment to hands-on work with the leadership skills necessary to develop the lab to align with the organization’s aggressive innovation goals.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop, repair, and troubleshoot new and established test systems and equipment
• Develop test plans in collaboration with product development and manufacturing teams
• Conduct engineering experiments, material evaluations, and production quality testing
• Report findings to the larger team using quantitative data analysis
• Ensure data gathered and documentation produced by the lab team is accurate and repeatable
• Develop SOPs for lab equipment and standardized tests, ensure the accurate retention of records, and maintain overall documentation for the department
• Support continuous improvement activities to enhance current product performance, quality, manufacturability, and cost
• Interpret quantifiable data and observations from experiments to provide product insight to the development teams
• Provide project leadership and communicate status to a broad range of constituents via written and verbal communication
• Collaborate with 3rd party labs to direct testing efforts and retain data and reports

MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Manage lab technicians ensuring priorities are communicated clearly, projects are completed on time, and compliance with protocols and overall Organization objectives
• Lead the creation, review, approval, and execution of lab policies and procedures
• Manage qualification and maintenance of lab equipment
• Ensure a safe working environment through the development of appropriate safety protocols, trainings, and Job Safety Audits in coordination with site safety leaders
• Develop team member’s capabilities
• Day to day operations of lab team
• Hiring staff, performance reviews, training and development of staff, and assigning work

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering or similar field with minimum of 5-7 years in a lab/test engineering role, with an emphasis on product development, validation, and quality
• Hands on experience conducting tests in a laboratory environment
• Familiarity with and experience operating laboratory equipment for tensile, shear, corrosion, and metallurgy
• Experience developing test programs to facilitate product design and validation
• Proven track record of technical project and team leadership
• Demonstrated data analysis experience – R or Minitab preferred
• Demonstrated ability to stay organized and prioritize multiple projec