Emplois actuels liés à Application Development, Foam - Zwijnaarde - Eastman

The Role

**Responsibilities**:
Comply with all corporate, division, and group safety requirements and demonstrate commitment to continual safety improvement and model good safety behaviors.
Become a core member of thermoplastic foam team (Application Development, Marketing, Sales, Technical Service, Product Management) and participate in, align and influence the strategy.
Guide the development of new thermoplastic polymer foam technology. Especially, expanded foam to deliver products that the market needs and that will bring commercial value to Eastman.
Have a thorough understanding of extruding polymers and simultaneously injecting blowing agents to the extruder and then utilising under water pelletizers to create beads which have blowing agent (solvent) contained within them.
Assist expandable foam molders in achieving acceptable quality molded articles
Utilize technical experience with the manufacturing, formulating, processing and testing of thermoplastic foamed polymers and systems to develop new products
Scale up formulations to produce expandable beads that meet quality requirements on commercial lines
Documenting and communicating results and conclusions to both technical and non-technical internal and external audiences.
Define and oversee internal and 3rd party testing of foam products to industry standards.
Identify regulatory compliance requirements and support certifications of products.
Promote and lead customer trials and evaluations.
Travel to customer to discover needs, match fitness for use characteristics with product offerings, and support the engagements through final commercialization.
Attend trade shows/technical conferences to align with market trends and establish/strengthen market connect.
Recommend equipment improvements/upgrades for both laboratory and manufacturing.

**Required Skills**:
Bachelor’s degree in a scientific discipline in a field related to Chemistry, Polymer Science, Chemical engineering, or equivalent. PhD is preferred.
At least 5 years of relevant industrial experience in the thermoplastic foam industry developing expandable thermoplastic foams, including formulating additive packages for thermoplastic foams, knowledge of amorphous polymers, bead extrusion experience and product testing.
Knowledge and experience with pre-expanders, shape molders and block molding machines from various manufacturers.
Fluent in English both written and spoken and knowledge of other European languages.

**Preferred**:
European product regulatory expertise regarding certification, microplastics, biodegradability and circular economy.
Strong communication & influencing skills, effective with all levels being able to interact with different groups and create strong network relationships including customers.
Technical Project leadership experience with a proven track record of commercializing new products is preferred.
Demonstrated creativity and a desire to solve challenging and complex problems
Dutch and/or German language skills are preferred.
Willing to relocate to Ghent, Belgium.
Computer skills - MS Office, Experimental design

Interested?

**Recruiter tip**: skip the cover letter and pitch us in 3 sentences why exactly you are the perfect match for our team

**NOTE**: we already have chosen our sourcing channels and kindly ask not to be contacted by search, advertisement, or staffing firms.

Eastman is committed to creating a powerfully diverse workforce and a broadly inclusive workplace, where everyone can contribute to their fullest potential each day