R&D Technician / Manager – Rotational Molding Materials

Position Summary

Hands-on R&D professional responsible for rotational molding material and product development, supporting new product innovation, customer problem-solving, and commercialization. This role bridges lab development, plant scale-up, and customer application needs.

Key Responsibilities

Product Development & Formulation

• Develop and optimize roto molding formulations (PE, XLPE, advanced polymers and Special Effects PE)
• Design materials to meet customer performance requirements
• Modify formulations using additives, crosslinking systems, and blends
• Lead new product development from concept to commercialization

Testing & Process Development

• Operate R&D rotational molding equipment
• Perform and interpret testing: impact, MFI, density, ESCR, thermal/mechanical
• Develop test methods, specifications, and validation plans
• Design and execute DOE to establish processing windows and scale-up correlations

Technical Support

• Troubleshoot customer processing and performance issues
• Recommend materials, additives, and process conditions
• Address issues such as warpage, sintering, brittleness, and durability

Collaboration

• Work with manufacturing, sales, customers, and leadership
• Support plant trials, scale-up, and customer development efforts
• Communicate technical results to diverse stakeholders

Materials Expertise

• Strong knowledge of Polyethylene (PE) and cross-linkable PE (XLPE)
• Familiarity with higher-value materials (PA, PC, PP, specialty polymers) preferred