Product Development Engineer

Georgia-Pacific LLC is a leading manufacturer of various paper products, and they are seeking a Product Development Engineer to support their Dixie® Beverage R&D Team. The role involves translating technical insights into commercially viable product solutions, while collaborating with cross-functional teams to improve product performance and scale innovations into production.

Responsibilities:

• 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

Requirements:

• 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
• 10+ years' experience in R&D or manufacturing with demonstrated results leading material qualification, product commercialization, process development and scale‑up
• Direct experience with consumer goods development, printing and/or converting processes — especially paper cup manufacturing
• Familiarity with quality systems and project management practices
• Experience with sustainable materials (renewable, compostable, etc.) and working to commercialize them
• Experience with SAP (PLM/MDG) or similar product lifecycle/MDM systems
• Proven track record of cross‑functional leadership, supplier collaboration, and delivering measurable manufacturing or product improvements