Product Development Engineer, Food

**You have a choice of where you want to work** We invite you along on our journey to **Purify and Protect, with Every Fiber, for a Sustainable World. **We aim to attract, retain, and energize passionate people, **like you, **by investing in your professional development and providing opportunities for personal growth.
**Do your values align with ours?** Accountability, Growth mindset, One team, Care and a fair and inclusive work environment for everyone, everywhere
We strive to meet the highest standards of corporate citizenship by protecting **the health and safety of our team,** safeguarding the environment, and creating a long-lasting, positive impact on the communities where we do business. **Are you with us??**

**The BU Food is looking for a Research and Development Engineer.**:
**Food & Consumer Packaging** - **Food BU** - **Pont Eveque R&D center** - **Ahlstrom Specialties S.A.S.**

Solutions for improved food safety, product preservation, and bacteria prevention, helping extend product life and protect human health.

The plants are in Rottersac and Saint Severin (France), and in Rhinelander and Nicolet (US).

The BU Food has been actively working on Food Packaging market transformation.

As a team member, reporting to the Head of Innovation and R&D, you will contribute to the success of the BU Food with your appetence for:

- **Food packaging innovation**: being creative and result oriented in a constrained environment (machine capabilities, profitability, timing)
- **Project management**: building and coordinating projects to launch new or improved products with the support of an innovation tool
- **People management**: leading cross-functional teams and direct managing of one R&D technician
- **Communication**: ensuring the engagement of the relevant internal and external stakeholders into the R&D projects
- **Technical expertise**: capturing and sharing technical knowledge within the company towards more efficient New Product Development management

**Main responsibilities**:
**Food packaging innovation**:

- Conceive, prove and support the industrialization of new or improved products/technologies
- Translate/anticipate customer/market’s needs with the support of Product Management into a competitive technical solution
- Collect information and build your network to favor collaboration
- Protect innovation in compliance with the Intellectual Property policy

**Project management**:

- Ensure the quality and the speed of the innovation process (Scope, Resource, Action plan, Timeline, Follow-up)
- Identify/anticipate the projects bottlenecks and suggest mitigation plan
- Use a collaborative software to report/track the project progress
- Participate to the monthly review with the BU stakeholders

**People management**:

- Directly manage one R&D technician by defining and prioritizing their work, by ensuring the compliance with the safety policy and targets, by setting their targets and development plans and by following the HR processes
- Exchange with various R&D project’s team and business, coordinating the activities (mills, other Business Units, Group R&D)

**Communication**:

- Prepare and lead physical and remote meetings/workshops
- Exchange with various internal and external stakeholders (mills, customers, sales, TCS, suppliers, academic, other BUs)
- Fluent in French and in English

**Technical expertise**:

- Problem-solving and scientific investigation/analytical skills, ability to learn
- Plan, organize and participate to pilot trials and mill trials, write trial reports planning next steps
- Relevant technical fields: material science, papermaking, chemistry, formulation, process

**Others**:

- Travel internationally and domestically as needed (30%)

**Education/Work experience needed**:

- Master or Ph.D. in material science, papermaking, chemistry, formulation, process
- Experience in a similar position or in a similar industry would be a plus
- Demonstrated experience/results in project management would be a plus
- Fluency in French and in English

**Skills**:

- Collaborative and true team player in different languages and cultures
- Mindful of own’s and other’s safety, well-being and environment
- Willing and able to challenge own’s and others’ belief in a constructive manner
- Sense of accountable for the success of our business, function and company

**Ahlstrom is an Equal Opportunity Employer. **Equal opportunity is a sound and just concept to which we are firmly bound. Ahlstrom will not engage in discrimination against, or harassment of, any person employed or seeking employment with our company based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, non-disqualifying disability, status as a protected veteran or other characteristics protected by law.

**About Us.** Ahlstrom is a global leader in combining fibers into sustainable specialty materials. Our purpose is to Purify and Protect, with Every Fiber, for a Sustai