Product Safety & Forensics Engineer, Small Domestic Appliances

Job Summary

This new position will lead all product safety and field return activities for the Small Appliances team. The ideal candidate will have 10+ years of R&D and product safety experience, preferably in consumer products/appliances segments. This candidate will work closely with the R&D teams regarding product safety – including field surveillance, root cause analysis, product safety training, and third party safety regulatory requirements (i.e. UL, CSA, etc.) This is a full-time position. Some domestic and international travel is required.

Essential Job Responsibilities

· Monitor reports of safety allegations from multiple streams of data.

· Develop a new and improved database system to track all reported safety allegations.

· Establish a new field return lab to investigate product safety allegations related to all small appliances and environmental products.

· Work closely with the quality organization to determine which units to return to the lab for further evaluation.

· Work with external forensic investigators, on allegations associated with property damage beyond the product, to understand the narrative of the event and findings from both scene and lab exams.

· Travel to third party lab and/or scene exams as needed to investigate safety allegations resulting in property damage, to determine cause and origin of the event.

· Summarize and report out findings from all streams of data on a monthly and/or ad hoc basis.

· Provide insights and feedback to R&D team regarding construction and testing requirements for future products under development.

· Be a champion to further establish and define product safety processes and procedures for the team to follow.

· Lead product safety training for an international team of engineers on an annual basis.

· Mentor other engineers regarding product safety best practices

· Manage various action items & day-to-day communication with various internal/external parties – including local engineering team, international teams, legal department, investigators, etc.

· Develop a thorough understanding of existing and upcoming safety regulation changes affecting these products.

· Work with the R&D teams to ensure future compliance & that the necessary design work is being achieved to meet regulations

· Be a hands-on engineer who can work in the lab to test units and root cause failures

· Maintain excellent communication with global colleagues – including taking occasional weekend/evening calls or meetings, helping track project milestones, deliverables, action items, etc.

· Ability to travel domestically & internationally

Qualifications

· Bachelor’s degree in engineering, preferably Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering

· 10+ years’ engineering experience, preferably in consumer electronics/appliances segments

· Extensive experience investigating insurance claims & failure modes specific to small appliances, fans, heaters and air purifiers.

· Awareness of heater recall constructions and failure modes

· Knowledge of arc tracking failure modes and experience testing PCB designs to limit the propagation of such failure modes

· A general understanding & familiarity with the construction of heaters, electric pressure cookers, air fryers and other small appliances.

· Experience conducting forced failure testing, including NiCr wire, locked rotor, and UL flammability testing

· Goal-oriented & self-managed

· Excellent communication & organization skills

· Ability to thrive in a collaborative team-environment

· Be a self-starter with excellent organization skills

Preferred Qualifications

· Master’s degree in engineering, preferably Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering

· Direct product safety experience in consumer electronics/appliances/HVAC segments

· Certified Fire & Explosion Investigator (CFEI)

· EPA 608 certified

· History of working with global colleagues