Product Development Engineer

Georgia-Pacific is looking to hire a Product Development Engineer to join our Anchor Packaging Research & Development (R&D) team and help move rigid and flexible packaging products from customer need through testing, qualification, and successful production launch. This is a hands-on role where you will test, measure, analyze, translate product data into quality standards and specifications and provide clear recommendations that support commercially viable products.

This position will be based at the Anchor Packaging facility in Paragould, Arkansas, with regular travel to project sites across NE Arkansas.

Anchor Packaging R&D team collaborates across Product Development, Quality, Production, Product Design, Specification Administration, Materials, Warehouse, Customer Service, Purchasing & Supply Chain, and external manufacturing partners. The team supports new product development & commercialization, material qualification, packaging and customer service (internal and external) with a strong focus on safety, organized work practices, customer requirements, and effective cross-functional execution. Our team strongly encourages us to practice Koch’s Principle-based Management Philosophy (PBM) to guide our everyday work culture.

This role works in office, laboratory, and manufacturing environments and may involve exposure to moving equipment, pinch points, heat, cold, plastic particulate, and elevated noise. The position may require occasional after-hours support during trials or product launches and the ability to safely perform hands-on testing, sampling, and measurement activities. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Support new product development from prototype to product qualification.
• Plan and execute raw material qualifications from pilot trial to production qualification.
• Plan and execute packaging trials from mini trial to scale-up qualification.
• Support internal and external customer concerns through final resolution.
• Collect, analyze, document test and measurement data, and recommend measurable quality control parameters for finished products meeting new and existing product/customer requirements.
• Coordinate equipment, people, samples, production time, and other resources as needed required for effective trial execution.
• Provide support during plant trials and product launches, including occasional after-hours support when needed.
• Guide and train team members on product requirements, test methods, measurements and troubleshooting.

• Associate or bachelor’s degree in science or engineering or related technical field, or equivalent combination of education and technical experience in rigid and flexible plastics packaging products.
• Experience in product development and commercialization activities.
• Ability to travel domestically up to 25% as needed.

• Experience and knowledge of extrusion and thermoforming in rigid or flexible packaging mainly with Polypropylene, PET and PVC products.
• Experience with product development and commercialization activities.
• Experience organizing, analyzing, and presenting data using Microsoft Excel or comparable tools. Advanced Excel skills, including formulas, charts, tables, and technical data visualization is a plus.
• Experience with statistical process control (SPC) software like Zontec.
• A critical-thinking and data-driven decision-making mindset.
• Experience involving plant trials and presenting technical recommendations to decision-makers.