Datum: 2 sep. 2023 Tewerkstellingsschema: Voltijds Locatie:
Buggenhout, BE
Product Developer
Ontex is a leading international producer of disposable personal hygiene solutions for all generations. We distribute in more than 110 countries through leading retailer private labels, as well as under our own brands. The group employs over 10,000 employees, spread around the world. Ontex is listed on Euronext Brussels.
We are a fast growing company where people are the most valuable asset. To support our continuous growth and reinforce our R&D team we are looking for a Product Developer.
Missie en hoofdtaken
Leads the technical stream of selected product development projects in the Adultcare category through the stage-gate process. Create customized / differentiated products in close relation with Ontex commercial and operational teams. Support commercial organization with product expertise in the category. Build and maintain business relationships with strategic suppliers and external organizations and provide expert knowledge and analyses.
Main responsibilities and key tasks
Adultcare focused
Leads the technical stream of multiple product development or customer specific product development projects in Adult care in different regions
Responsible to create and communicate the project planning and maintains it in masterplan tool
Responsible to defend capex and opex for project and follows up
Supports the head of product development in technical feasibility studies of new requests (cost, capex, timing, resources in-outside R&D) enabling creation of business case for project approval
Delivers timely specific projects from the region product initiative masterplan
Delivers timely specific projects from the customer product initiative plan
In the project responsible to avoid any third party infringement by very close interaction with legal functions
Delivers fully documented product / raw mat specification for each new project
Present on a regular base project status and future plans in internal meetings, as well as for external partners, and key customers
Support other functions by providing expert knowledge short-term, e.g. related to quality problems, customer requests - meetings, or operational issues
Guarantees the project executions are done according to the right processes
Achtergrond en ervaring
Job requirements
Educational:
Master or university diploma degree in natural science, or engineering
Broad scientific and technical scope. Good knowledge in statistics additional knowledge of Six Sigma would be an asset
Excellent English (oral + written) is mandatory
Experience:
Minimum of 3 years in R&D
Minimum of 3 years in hygiene, nonwoven or related business.
Minimum of 3 years of experience in a multi-cultural, international environment
Solid knowledge about all types of disposable absorbent products, raw materials, and production processes
Competencies:
Excellent analytical and organizational skills
Self-dependent and scientific way of working
Strong decision-making ability
Both visionary and results oriented
Strong communication skills. Very good presentation skills
Very good team-working skills, openness to cooperate within the entire organization
Job complexity and challenges
Product complexity:
Extensive product portfolio affected: different core platforms plus special components/features, large variety of materials, all different sizes, tailor-made solutions for key customers
Technical complexity:
Amount of production lines, comprising different technical platforms
Business complexity:
Multifunctional role: interactions with various internal functions – engineering, IT, procurement, operations, supply chain, marketing, sales, IP
Truly international scope, including multi-cultural interactions both internally and with suppliers and business partners from around the globe
Different routes to market coming with specific requirements and boundary conditions
Key challenges:
Interplay between new product concepts and machine technology: big pressure from operations to maintain or even improve line speed and efficiency after conversion to new concepts
Very stringent BOM cost limitations for new developments
Short innovation cycles creating significant time pressure for running developments, and for a pipeline filled with future innovations
Identify opportunities for new products and services to extend the present portfolio, generate new business opportunities and create added value for customers
Product and process limitations due to intellectual property rights owned by other players
Very challenging time-to-market requirements, which are difficult to match with the iterative process that is inherent to serious development activities
Limited availability of machine resources for production trials, due to typically high occupancy of running production lines
