Senior Research Engineer

James Hardie Building Products Inc. is the North American leader in fiber cement home siding and exterior design solutions. Hardie products offer long lasting beauty and endless design possibilities with trusted protection and low maintenance. The company pioneered modern fiber cement building products and continues to invest in innovation to transform the industry. James Hardie is a high-performance organization, with an unwavering commitment to Zero Harm. The company proudly employs a diverse workforce of over 3,000 employees across operations in North America.

Our Global Research & Development (R&D) teams are focused on market driven innovation to deliver high impact new products that enable future growth. Our teams provide a continuous pipeline of innovative new products and technologies, while leveraging James Hardie's core value propositions of durability and low maintenance. Our role is to act as the technology pipeline for the global organization and ensure long-term performance of our products in current and future markets.

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Onsite from the Fontana, CA Research & Development Facility

As an Sr. Process Engineer - Installation Innovation you will coordinate day to day activities related to product and installation process innovation working projects through the Hardie Innovation Phase-Gate System from Scoping to Deployment. This includes activities related to, but not limited to, market feedback, product development, process development, working with vendors, field validation, field (jobsite) scale-up, commercialization testing and regulatory compliance. From scoping to deployment, you will manage workstreams, execute key tasks listed in the project timelines and monitor the output of all key deliverables. You will plan and implement specified and collaborative projects, particularly new product development projects, and keep them on schedule from start to completion date.

What You'll Do:

• Through customer ethnography discover and drive installation (and channel) pain points into the PD team

• Capture the voice of the installer and then work to design systems, support, and accessories based on the learning

• Lead coordination, tracking, and reporting of workstream schedules within a fast-paced product development environment

• Capture market trends in systems, functions, and building science - use this to feed new product design and system design

• Partner with Technical Sales Team to assist on sales tools development

• Partner with Technical Sales Group to perform product demonstrations as needed to support test selling

Installation Process Innovation

• Develop and manage projects to study and understand product installation costs

• Use lean manufacturing principles and methodologies for product installation process improvement working to minimize product waste and optimize installation processes

• Use data analysis to identify areas for improvement and measure the impact of lean practices on the installation process.

• Leverage technology, software, and tools to enhance lean practices and data collection.

• Develop installer standard work based on installer needs and install process optimization needs

Demand Generation

• Optimize existing products and systems integrating new technologies

• Act as the subject matter expert for product installation - support sales and key customer accounts (engineers, architects, builders, GCs, installers)

• Work as our business representative within targeted industry Trade Associations

The position responsibilities outlined above are in no way to be construed as all encompassing. Other duties, responsibilities, and qualifications may be required and/or assigned as necessary.

What You'll Bring:

• Engineering degree in relevant field (Civil, Mechanical, Industrial, Mechatronics, Architectural, or Building Science)

• The ideal person should have 6+ years experience working in construction, product development, product application, process design, or manufacturing

• Experience with Six Sigma or Toyota Production System (TPS) is a plus

• Knowledge of lean manufacturing principles (e.g., Identification of Waste, A3 Reports, Kaizen, Standardized Work, Continuous Flow, Just in Time, SMED, etc.)

• Knowledge of technical risk, problem solving & decision-making tools (e.g., FMEA, KT-Analysis, DOE, etc.)

• Strong project management and communication skills with the ability to interface with others (architects, engineers, contractors, product installers)

• Ability to travel up to 50% across North America

What You'll Receive:

At James Hardie, we recognize that our success depends on our people. We've worked hard to build a generous and competitive benefits program that demonstrates our commitment to our employees.

• Comprehensive low-cost co-pay Health Insurance; medical, dental, prescription, and vision insurance benefits for every 30+ hour full-time employee. Insurance starts on day one!

• 401(k) Retirement plan that will match 100% of employees saved dollars up to the first 6% of your salary

• Paid holidays, paid vacation including Jury Duty and bereavement leave

• Wellness Program

• Employee Assistance Program

• Parental Leave

• Community Involvement & Sustainable Solutions -