Product Engineer

Hickory Metal Plant
Hickory, NC 28602, USA

Founded in 1944, HSM is athird generation, privately held company with a rich history of innovation and a commitment to our people. With 25 locations across the U.S. and corporate headquarters in Hickory, NC and Huntersville, NC, we specialize in manufacturing components for furniture, bedding, transportation, packaging, automotive, and healthcare industries. Our expertise also includes designing and building automated production machinery.

HSM products from sofa springs to swimming pool noodles and bus seats, touch everyday life in countless ways.

At HSM, our success is built on our people. We foster a culture of teamwork, innovation, and shared success. If you’re looking for a meaningful place to grow and make an impact, we want to hear from you!

Identify product opportunities:
Research customer and end-user needs, benchmark competing products, and evaluate new markets and applications for TSM’s manufacturing capabilities.

Shape product strategy:
Develop product briefs and business cases outlining requirements, target costs, pricing assumptions, expected demand, and investment needs. Help maintain product roadmaps and prioritize development opportunities.

Design and develop products:
Create components, subassemblies, and finished products using appropriate materials and manufacturing processes. Maintain 3D CAD models, engineering drawings, bills of material, specifications, and controlled design records.

Explore and test concepts:
Plan feasibility studies, proof-of-concept builds, and experiments to resolve technical uncertainties and evaluate mechanical features, material interactions, and product performance.

Validate designs:
Coordinate prototypes, laboratory testing, first article inspections, and design verification. Partner with Quality and regulatory resources to incorporate applicable safety, performance, customer, and industry requirements.

Support production launches:
Coordinate development milestones from approved concept through tooling, pilot production, launch, and stabilization. Work with Manufacturing and Process Engineering to confirm readiness and resolve design-related issues.

Improve existing products:
Review sales, margins, customer feedback, warranty, scrap, and rework data to recommend product improvements and cost reductions that preserve safety, quality, and performance.

Collaborate across teams:
Serve as the engineering contact for assigned products, communicate requirements and risks, and use structured root cause analysis to resolve concerns with customers, suppliers, and internal partners.

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Product Design, Materials, Manufacturing, or Industrial Engineering, or a closely related engineering discipline.
• At least five years of experience in product engineering, product development, design engineering, or closely related manufacturing engineering.
• Experience taking manufactured products from concept through launch, including involvement in market research, product planning, or commercialization.
• Ability to translate customer needs, competitive research, and market trends into product recommendations.
• Knowledge of product roadmaps, business cases, target costing, margins, and commercialization.
• Proficiency with 3D CAD software such as Solid Works, Creo, CATIA, or Autodesk Inventor, along with engineering drawings and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing.
• Working knowledge of foam, metal, vinyl, textiles, plastics, adhesives, fastening applications, and associated manufacturing processes.
• Experience developing specifications, bills of material, prototypes, validation plans, and controlled engineering documentation.
• Working knowledge of ISO 9001 and formal product…