Job Description

Summary: The Process Engineer will report to the Director, Process Engineering. The process engineer will provide strategic, tactical and hands-on support with the primary objective of operationalizing new manufacturing methods and process/design changes to facilitate increased profit potential and cost reductions through work process, unit operations, operating condition or process technology improvements. The Process Engineer will lead and participate in cross functional projects. Strong organizational and program/project management skills are required to optimize the performance of the team in pursuit of process improvements.

The Process Engineer must have the ability to manage multiple priorities, including the balance between activities required to meet short-term customer or event driven requirements as well as longer term process and technology development needs. The Process Engineer will partner with Quality, Operational Excellence, R&D, Plant Engineering, Reliability and Efficiency, EH&S, Supply Chain and Thermal Barrier Manufacturing to ensure that customer requirements and business objectives are effectively addressed in a timely and cost-efficient manner.

The ideal candidate will be a process design specialist with 10 years of industrial experience with unit operation optimization, scale-up from pilot to production scale, and the ability to lead transformational projects with heavy cross-functional engagement and cooperation.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Lead evaluation of existing manufacturing processes and identify, prioritize, and operationalize process technology options that enable commercialization of new products, reduce operating costs, increase capital efficiency, improve product quality, enhance process safety, and reduce the environmental impact of our manufacturing processes.
Contribute to development of a five-year process engineering roadmap that enables Aspen to capture rapidly emerging commercial opportunities (≤1year) and anticipate future needs (2-5 year) that facilitate staged investment that protects Aspen’s position as the global leader in aerogel technology.
Partner with R&D to interpret aerogel and fabricated parts design requirements to determine feasibility, process steps required, and cost to manufacture.
Own and develop manufacturing process design and selection criteria to support capital investments with specific emphasis on design, standards, and cost.
Establish and implement standards, documentation, best practices and procedures for all new and existing products to ensure manufacturing capabilities.
Partner with the Quality & Operational Excellence organization to collaboratively measure and analyze impacts to product performance as a consequence of process conditions and design changes.
Prepare, coordinate and support plant trials to validate efficacy of process improvements.
Assess current processes and equipment to determine risk [PFMEA] of and impacts from malfunction/failure and employee/personnel injury
Provide process support and advanced trouble shooting, including root cause analysis for existing and new products.
Execute Aspen’s performance management system, by setting performance goals and objectives as well as performing employee performance reviews.
Adopt and follow Aspen’s core values of Safety, Quality, Integrity, Teamwork, Customer and Innovation on both a personal and professional level.

Qualifications:

Minimum ten (10) years’ experience in manufacturing (process engineering, product line engineering, technology evaluation and deployment, unit operation).
Bachelor's degree in Engineering is required, Master's Degree or MBA is preferred.
Track record of success leading a process engineering projects.
History of working in a manufacturing operations environment.
Ability and willingness to lead, manage and do work.
Innate intellectual curiosity.
Predisposed to leverage analytic reason, creativity, and judgment.
Inspired and energized by being part of a high functioning team that works on complex, high-value opportunities.
Well-developed influencing skills – ability to inspire confidence and drive consensus.
Ability to handle complex matters across multiple initiatives.
Intellectual agility to deal effectively with strategic issues and operational details.
Executive level oral and written communication and presentation skills; the ability to effectively influence and motivate external and internal stakeholders.

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

Frequently required to stand
Occasionally required to walk
Frequently required to sit
Frequently required to utilize hand and finger dexterity
Occasionally required to climb, balance, bend, stoop, kneel or crawl
Continually required to talk or hear
Frequently works near moving mechanical parts
Frequently works around fumes, airborne particles, or toxic chemicals
Occasionally exposed to extreme heat or cold (non-weather)
While performing the duties of this job, the noise level in the work environment is usually moderate
The employee must occasionally lift and/or move more than 10 pounds.
Specific vision abilities required by this job include: Close vision; Distance vision; Color vision; Peripheral vision; Depth perception and ability to adjust focus

Valid through: 4/21/2021