Full Job Description
Job Title: Refrigeration R&D Engineer
Job Summary:
The Refrigeration R&D Engineer is responsible for the research and development of North American Refrigerator Products, focusing on mechanical component and structural design, feature development, collaboration, and establishing plans and milestone tracking. This position is full-time and fully on-site, with some domestic and international travel required (less than 10% annually).
Duties/Responsibilities:
• Analyze consumer insights, product performance data, and competitive benchmarking to ideate, package, and pitch new technologies and feature concepts for inclusion in a multigenerational product and technology roadmap.
• Own feature design and development from concept to production. Create robust digital and physical models, new specifications, and expand the intellectual property portfolio for Refrigerator products.
• Own prototype design and fabrication, optimizing for fabrication methods, post-processing, and material selection in both additive and subtractive rapid prototyping manufacturing.
• Design and build experimental test setups to validate novel features for function, quality, and reliability. Author test procedures, analyze experimental data, and develop new specifications.
• Responsible for quality, cost, and reliability improvements of related parts.
• Assist with root cause analyses and develop design and quality improvement projects based on field returns, quality data, and testing.
• Implement projects and special tasks as needed.
• Travel to China is required less than 10% annually.
Required Skills/Abilities:
• Proficient in parametric modeling in SolidWorks, UG, Creo or AutoCAD.
• Proficient with additive and subtractive rapid prototyping methods.
• Familiarity with plastics manufacturing and metal fabrication.
• Strong communication, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
• Organized, self-starter with strong task-prioritization skills.
• Familiarity with patents and refrigeration technology trends.
• Structural, thermal, or CFD simulation experience is a plus.
• Basic experience with microcontrollers for automation and data logging is a plus.
Preferred Qualifications:
• Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent.
• 5+ years of ice and water feature development or innovation experience.
Education and Experience:
• Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent.
• 10+ years of refrigeration experience working in product development or innovation.
• Experience with UG, Creo, SolidWorks, AutoCAD, or similar modeling software.
• Familiarity with patents and technology trends in refrigeration.
Disclaimer:
This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.