Lead Product Development Engineer

Spin Master•Los Angeles, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Lead Product Development Engineer (Lead PDE) will be responsible for driving the technical execution of global toys, from concept through production, and ensuring performance, cost, quality, and schedule adherence. The position will provide expertise in proven techniques for successful product development and design for manufacturing/assembly. The Lead PDE will work closely with large cross-functional teams (Design, Marketing, Engineering, Quality, Packaging, etc.) to manage development throughout the entire product lifecycle.

Requirements

Experience working with and/or managing creative professionals (designers and engineers) both within and outside the company.
Ability to mentor junior engineers, develop talent, and model professionalism.
Strong Knowledge of Solid Works, injection molding tooling and manufacturing processes.
BS/MS in Mechanical preferred
Experience with plastics, materials, manufacturing, and/or engineering costs for durable goods.

Nice To Haves

Toy or CPG experience an asset.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with GBU (Design and Brand teams) on generating new concepts and provide technical and cost assessment.
Ability to create and impart best practices to effectively support high complexity items, strategic initiatives, and early concept explorations.
Identify issues, formulate resolution action plan, and execute through to completion with limited oversight– leverage executive leadership and functional partners to gain necessary resources and support.
Lead strategic initiatives around operational innovation, efficiencies, or other improvements to significantly impact product development and/or processes.
Explore new materials, technology, and manufacturing processes to continuously push Spin Master to the forefront of product development.
Coordinate with cross-functional teams to ensure milestones and integration are on-time.
Provide mechanical, material, electro-mechanical, and/or mechatronic engineering expertise throughout the product development lifecycle.
Lead prototyping and proof-of-concept builds to de-risk and test new mechanisms, key features, and/or gameplay feasibility.
Lead strategic initiatives around operational innovation, efficiencies, or other improvements to significantly impact product development and/or processes.
Detail design of components and products for manufacturing, optimizing DMF/A.
Create product and performance specifications.
Be key point of contact with Manufacturing Engineering teams (in Asia, Mexico, EU, etc), and ensure alignment on all project details.
Lead product review meetings and create action plan for technical deliverables.
Drive productivity by implementing design for manufacturing/assembly up front.
Use PLM software to manage and track key deliverables; proactively resolve potential issues to keep the product on track, on cost, and on specification.
Explore new materials, technology, and manufacturing processes
Ability to travel internationally to support projects.