Product Development Engineer

Location

Chattanooga, TN (On‑Site). Corporate relocation assistance is available.

This position requires previous professional engineering experience, especially with New Product Development and VAVE. This is not an entry level position.

The NPD/VAVE Engineer serves as a corporate‑level engineering resource responsible for driving manufacturability, cost optimisation, and standardisation across all Astec divisions.

This role supports New Product Development (NPD) and Value Analysis/Value Engineering (VAVE) initiatives that align with the Advanced Manufacturing Engineering Strategic Business Plan (AME SBP) — specifically under the pillars of Innovation Enablement
, Process Optimization
, and Operational Excellence
.

By collaborating cross‑functionally with Design Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, and Site Manufacturing Engineering
, this role ensures that products are designed and industrialised efficiently, safely, and profitably.

• Serve as the manufacturing engineering representative in product development teams.
• Conduct Design for Manufacturability and Assembly (DFM/A) reviews during all design gate phases.
• Coordinate with IE and AME to develop manufacturing routings, labour standards, and process documentation for NPIs.
• Support pilot and prototype builds to validate design, process capability and readiness for mass productions.
• Identify and communicate manufacturability issues early in the design to minimise late‑stage changes.
• Ensure product launches meet AME’s cost, quality and delivery objectives.

• Identify and lead cost reduction projects across product lines focusing on material, process and design efficiency.
• Collaborate with procurement, design and Operations to implement alternative materials, part consolidations and design simplifications.
• Develop and maintain a VAVE project funnel and savings dashboard in alignment with corporate targets.
• Conduct competitive benchmarking, product teardowns, and process cost studies to support ideation.
• Validate and track cost savings through data‑driven methods (Standard Labour time, BOM impact, etc.).

• Support the deployment and continuous improvement of corporate AME standard, including:
• PFEP (Plan for Every Part).
• Line‑Side Stock (LSS) systems.
• MBOM accuracy and process routings.
• PFMEA templates and work instruction formats.
• Work with site ME to ensure consistent adoption of best practices in fabrication, welding, assembly, and paint.
• Partner with AME Systems, IE and Paint Engineering teams to ensure new product/process alignment with automation and equipment capability.

• Leverage tools such as Oracle Fusion, Sigma Nest, Power BI and Excel‑based models to analyse cost, process and efficiency data.
• Participate in Industry 4.0 initiatives to bring digital visibility to manufacturing and product performance metrics.
• Drive data‑driven decision‑making for capacity, labour optimisation and cost competitiveness.

• Act as a liaison between Corporate AME, Site ME, Design Engineering, Procurement and Operations teams.
• Facilitate and lead NPD/VAVE review meetings/workshops, ensuring project status, risks and savings realization.
• Provide regular updates to AME leadership on key deliverables, metrics and Strategic Business Plan alignment progress.

• DFM/A reviews and closure reports per product design phase.
• Approved routings and time studies before pilot builds.
• Annual validated cost savings through VAVE initiatives.
• Standardise AME process documents across all divisions.
• Weekly dashboards and KPI update to AME leadership.

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, Manufacturing or Industrial Engineering.
• Master’s degree in mechanical, Manufacturing or Industrial Engineering.
• 5–10 years of relevant experience in Manufacturing Engineering, Product Development or VAVE roles.
• Understanding of fabrication, machining, welding, assembly and paint processes.
• Proficiency in AutoCAD and Solid Works.
• Knowledge of Oracle ERP.
• Strong foundation in Lean Manufacturing, PFMEA, Process Flow and cost analysis.
• Excellent communication and project management for cross‑functional integration.

Travel up to 30 %.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Astec does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, colour, religion, gender (sex), sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, citizenship status, a person’s veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law or executive order.