Product Development Engineer

Your Job

Join Georgia-Pacific's Consumer Products Group R&D at the Neenah Technical Center as a Product Development Engineer on the Dixie® Beverage R&D Team.

You will support and advance our #1 Dixie® paper cup and foodservice portfolio by translating technical insight into commercially viable product and process solutions.

This role balances hands-on lab and manufacturing work with cross-functional stakeholder engagement to improve product performance, reduce cost and scale innovations into production.

Hybrid or remote work solutions will be considered.

Our Team

You'll be part of a multidisciplinary R&D team focused on paper cups and food service solutions for Retail and Professional channels.

The team partners closely with product development, mill operations, converting, consumer research, suppliers and 3rd-party manufacturers to mitigate technical risk, run pilot and mill trials, and move winning concepts from pilot to commercial scale.

What You Will Do


* Partner with business stakeholders, consumer research, mill operations and converting teams to drive year-over-year product and cost improvements: maximize volume, minimize waste, and improve quality across the portfolio.


* Design, plan and execute experiments (lab, pilot and mill trials) to evaluate new product designs, alternative materials, and substrate qualifications.


* Collect, analyze, and synthesize product performance, quality and consumer feedback to mitigate technical risk and guide commercialization decisions.


* Provide technical and project support to internal manufacturing sites and 3rd-party converters to ensure manufacturability and reliable scale-up.


* Develop and maintain supplier relationships to qualify materials, troubleshoot issues, and accelerate product commercialization.


* Solve complex problems using critical thinking and data analysis; propose creative, pragmatic recommendations and lead implementation.


* Coach and educate the technical community to improve R&D effectiveness and share subject matter expertise.


* Travel as needed to support trials, customer meetings and supplier collaboration (25-50%).


* Work safely and effectively in both lab and manufacturing environments.

Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)


* Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Science AND 3+ years of product development or process/project engineering experience on paper or plastic products; OR 7+ years of relevant work experience without a 4-year degree.


* Experience developing and managing supplier relationships.


* Demonstrated ability to identify problems, apply creativity to develop solutions, and implement those solutions effectively.


* Comfortable running experiments and trials, collecting performance data, and communicating technical results to diverse stakeholders.


* Willing to travel 25-50% of the time based on business needs.

What Will Put You Ahead


* 10+ years' experience in R&D or manufacturing with d...