Application Engineer

The Company

kp is a globally recognised leader in the packaging and specialty film industry, renowned for its unwavering commitment to sustainability and innovation. The need to act on climate change has never been clearer so we incorporate sustainability into everything we do by #InvestingInBetter - creating innovative products that enhance product protection, shelf life and contribute to reducing the overall carbon footprint.

At kp, we are passionate about ensuring our customers' satisfaction, and we strive to achieve this goal by focusing all our efforts on meeting their evolving needs. Our dedication to drive a positive change in the packaging industry with a focus on quality and sustainability has earned us a reputation as a trusted partner for businesses worldwide.

 

Purpose of the job:

Proactively build strong technical relationships with our customers and value-chain participants. Similarly, build productive internal relationships with Operations, Quality, Innovation, and Product Line Management to facilitate better collaboration between kp and the market. Be a source of knowledge and expertise, both internally and externally, for the applications for which our products are used, particularly pertaining to the assigned market segments. This expertise should include consumer needs, OEM needs, customer/converter equipment demands, and applicable material science. Exemplify Customer-Focus, responding with empathy and urgency for customer issues and needs. As assigned by the Manager, participate in or lead projects whose purpose is to solidify the technical leadership of kp within the markets they serve.

Responsibilities:

• Proactively build strong relationships within customer technical teams, and company internal operations, quality, product management, and innovation, to support collaborative approach to customer challenges, projects, and new product development.
• Respond to customer technical issues that are relevant for the application. This is distinct from responding to quality claims, however, from time to time, the role will require support of key quality claims where there appears a dispute between product performance and application expectations.
• Use problem solving reputation to build technical, but also business, relationships with customers, acting as a bridge between commercial and technical needs within both customer and company. Approach such problem solving analytically, demonstrating objectivity and value for the customers
• Provide input to set up appropriate Specification meeting customer/market expectation and meet or exceed competitor’s product performance. Ability to demonstrate the added value of improved product performance to customers both technically and commercially.
• Upon completion of all customer visits, complete detailed technical visit reports and log within Salesforce.com
• Create and maintain supportive technical product collateral like white papers, processing advice, portfolio overview, etc.
• Collaborate with Sales- and Innovation Team to support the market introduction of new products and business models, support new product development lift at customers.
• Support the Innovation process for developing new products and collaborate with Innovation project teams to deliver technical solutions for commercial opportunities.
• Support the Sales team in all application specific opportunities tracked in Salesforce and make sure that the most appropriate products are offered right from the beginning.
• Be a source of knowledge of our customer’s product environment – equipment, line speeds, end products packaged in our materials, supply chain processes, etc.
• Conduct penetrating information gathering meetings w