Process Engineer

Join our dynamic team in Marion, VA, as a Process Engineer, where you'll lead innovative manufacturing engineering projects to elevate safety, productivity, and efficiency. Your passion for continuous improvement and operational excellence will be key to thriving in this role. Collaborate with cross-functional teams, from production to product development, fostering strong partnerships to deliver exceptional results. Be the change agent in our pursuit of excellence! The ideal candidate must be currently residing in or near Marion, VA or willing to relocate to the area.

*Must be willing to travel up to 10% to support other Westlake sites. *

Duties and Responsibilities

May include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Partner with R&D and Manufacturing in leveraging gated processes to bring new products, concepts and ideas to market.
• Assist in capital equipment budget planning and specifying to improve on existing production techniques and to develop new products and production methods.
• Work with a cross-functional, experienced team to grow and develop your expertise in the field
• Interface with internal and external customers and stakeholders to strategically plan and develop new products and solve a variety of production related issues.
• Analyze data using statistical software and communicate results into easy to understand formats.
• Help develop, trial and implement new material compounds to meet productivity and business objectives.
• Continuous improvement of production processes to improve rates, properties, densities, reduce scrap, etc. by utilizing lab equipment and coordinating trials on pilot and production extrusion equipment.
• Develop collaborative relationships with suppliers to stay abreast of new machinery and/or raw materials.
• Assist in development and testing of projects not directly related to extrusion, i.e. print rolls, heat transfer rolls, injection molding, etc.
• Calculate formulation costs and costs of material in extruded parts for management’s evaluation in new and existing parts.
• Attend trade shows, classes and training seminars to keep skills up to date and learn about new equipment, chemicals, new processes related to our industry.
• May serve as technical representative in trade association meetings, i.e. SPE, PIA, AAMA and NFRC, etc.
• Ensure compliance with federal and state safety and environmental regulations.
• Maintain constructive working relationship with all employees and supervisors/managers.
• Perform other duties as assigned to satisfaction of your reporting manager.

Education, Experience and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (B.S.) from ABET accredited university in Mechanical, Chemical, Materials or Industrial Engineering.
• Minimum 3 to 5 years of functional and HANDS-ON process engineering experience preferably within polymer injection molding & extrusion processes or other physical/chemical production environments.
• Knowledge of the manufacture, testing, analysis and application of Polymer chemistry.
• Six sigma green/black belt and knowledge of DOE, DMAIC, Fishbone, 5-Why, FMEA, statistical analysis, etc. is preferred.
• Exceptional ability to collaboratively solve challenging problems is a must. 
• Demonstrated ability to make data driven decisions as a team to identify root cause of production issues is required. 
• Must be able to organize data, people and tasks; possess leadership skills; have a strong working knowledge of our products and possess problem-solving skills and conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.
• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, draw valid conclusions, and build consensus amongst a diverse technical and operational team. 
• Evidence of effective project management and communication skills to drive technical projects with significant impact on business and operations performance.
• Effectively communicate with all levels of employment both verbally and in writing. 
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to build collaborative working relationships across a diverse organization are critical to success in this role.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit. The employee frequently is required to stand; walk; use hands to touch, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear.  The employee is occasionally required to stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.  The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds, frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds, and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.  May require travel up to 10% of the time.  Incumbent must be able to travel.

Work Environment

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate in the office.  The position requires the incumbent travel to the various manufacturing facilities as much as 10% of the time.  The work environment at the facilities can include excessive noise levels, exposure to weather elements, working around or adjacent to moving and mobile equipment and climbing ladders.  Appropriate personal protective equipment including hearing protection, steel toe shoes, safety glasses and/or hard hats may be required while working in a facility.

This is not necessarily an all-inclusive list of job-related responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, requirements or working conditions. All duties and responsibilities are essential job functions and requirements and are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities or may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health or safety of themselves or others. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job or to require that other or different tasks be performed as assigned. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an "at will" relationship.

Westlake is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any characteristics protected by applicable legislation.