TS&D Technical Leader - Blow Molding

TS&D Technical Leader - Blow Molding

Founded in 1920, Eastman is a global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With the purpose of enhancing the quality of life in a material way, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability. The company's innovation-driven growth model takes advantage of world-class technology platforms, deep customer engagement, and differentiated application development to grow its leading positions in attractive end markets such as transportation, building and construction, and consumables.

As a globally inclusive company, Eastman employs approximately 13,000 people around the world and serves customers in more than 100 countries. The company had 2025 revenue of approximately $8.8 billion and is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA.

As the Technical Service / Application Development (TS/AD) Technical Leader, you will serve as the primary technical lead supporting regional and global strategic marketing initiatives for Eastman's Specialty Plastics business, with a strong focus on blow-molded circular plastic packaging applications. You will work directly with brand owners, converters, and blow molders to enable packaging solutions that align with brand circularity commitments.

This role is located onsite at our Kingsport, TN headquarters. In this role, you will build and sustain deep technical relationships across the value chain to support circular solutions, ensure packaging performance while meeting sustainability targets, and enable successful market adoption. The position requires strong technical expertise in blow molding processes including Injection Stretch Blow Molding and Extrusion Blow Molding combined with a working knowledge of recycling systems, compatibility with existing infrastructure, and evolving regulatory and brand-owner expectations.

Key responsibilities include leading launch-phase customer projects, providing advanced technical support and on-site consultation, collaborating cross-functionally with Sales, Marketing, R&D, Product Management, Quality, and Manufacturing, and translating brand-owner sustainability goals into actionable technical solutions that drive business growth.

Responsibilities:

• Lead launch-phase technical projects that enable blow-molded circular packaging solutions, including validation and qualification of materials containing PCR and/or circular feed stocks, supporting brand commitments and regulatory requirements.
• Engage proactively with brand owners, converters, and blow molders to drive adoption of packaging solutions that meet sustainability targets, while maintaining required processing performance and package integrity.
• Support opportunity-management processes that prioritize circular packaging initiatives aligned with business strategy (new business, protect, and grow); apply consultative selling skills to communicate technical value related to sustainability, performance, and total system compatibility.
• Collaborate closely with Sales, Marketing, R&D, Product Management, and Manufacturing to translate brand sustainability goals—such as increased recycled content, elimination of non-recyclable structures, and improved recyclability—into differentiated polymer and application solutions for blow-molded packaging.
• Serve as the technical authority on blow molding processes (e.g., extrusion blow molding, injection blow molding, injection stretch blow molding), especially as they relate to processing PCR materials, managing variability, and ensuring consistent quality; guide junior team members in resolving complex, high-impact technical challenges.
• Design, execute, and interpret application and validation trials to assess PCR performance, recyclability compatibility, and processing robustness, translating results into scalable technical recommendations, specifications, and processing guidelines for commercial deployment.
• Conduct customer training, technical seminars, and conference presentations focused on circular packaging enablement, including PCR integration, and the…