Arden Companies is seeking a motivated & talented Product Development Engineer, who is passionate about consumer-centered design. The Product Development Engineer will help engineer, prototype, test, and manage products that bring innovative solutions in the areas of material development, product, and processes in the Outdoor Soft Home Category.
Reporting directly to the VP of Global Sourcing, Asia Operations, and Engineering, the Product Development Engineer will engineer and manage a variety of soft home products. This position will collaborate with a high-energy creative team including R&D, design, PD, sales, and sourcing to create product solutions and manage them through the creation, launch, and testing phases necessary to deliver accurate, innovative, product solutions. The ideal candidate would be flexible and collaborative with strong skills in home soft-lines development, product specification, product testing, line item management, and will be detail-oriented, accurate, and timely.
We are a skilled and respected manufacturing company with a design twist. The journey of a single patio cushion or pillow to someone’s backyard involves hours of planning, hard work, and effort from teams across the globe.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Direct & manage Product Development Engineering process and deliverables
- Maintain collaboration and communication between product development and launch teams to ensure the accuracy of deliverables of new developments as it transitions from product development to launch stages
- Manage and organize program details, item specs, and research data within Arden’s specific product management system
- Guide resolutions of quality issues related to technical specs
- Manage Internal Testing & Retail Product Testing, including communication with Sales managers, 3rd party test labs, maintaining ownership of test documentation
- Maintain a working knowledge of material and process technologies applicable to new product development
- Communicate effectively with teammates, internal and external resources to ensure new product development success
Professional Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree/diploma, preferably in Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Technology, Industrial Design, Industrial Engineering or another related technical field
- Minimum 3+ years experience engineering, soft-lines experience
Required Skills:
- Highly detail oriented – Must be able to see the big picture while managing the details
- Flexible – Support special projects in product development, engineering and manufacturing.
- Strong competency in a visual communication tool (2D or 3D), Microsoft Office
- Background in CAD, Turbo CAD, or similar software
Helpful but not required:
- Product Line Management software experience
- 3D software
- Strong sketching skills