Product Engineer - Sustaining

Old World Industries, 3100 Sanders Road, Northbrook, Illinois, United States of America

Position Summary

The Product Engineer – Sustaining is responsible for sustaining and improving existing Automotive and Industrial Fluids products after transition from R&D into commercial operation. This individual contributor role serves as the technical owner for assigned products throughout their lifecycle, partnering closely with R&D, Quality, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain to resolve product issues, support business continuity, improve cost and manufacturability, and maintain product performance, quality, and compliance.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary engineering contact for sustaining support of assigned existing products, including technical troubleshooting, product changes, and lifecycle management activities.
• Lead or support engineering change requests related to raw material changes, supplier changes, manufacturing process updates, packaging changes, cost reduction initiatives, and quality improvements.
• Partner with R&D to receive and maintain product knowledge, specifications, formulations, test methods, design intent, and technical rationale for products transitioned to the business.
• Collaborate with Quality to investigate product nonconformances, customer complaints, deviations, and corrective/preventive actions, ensuring sound technical root cause analysis and effective resolution.
• Work with Manufacturing to improve product manufacturability, process robustness, yield, throughput, and operational consistency while maintaining product performance requirements.
• Support Supply Chain by evaluating alternate materials, supplier qualifications, obsolescence risks, and continuity-of-supply issues.
• Maintain and update product specifications, technical documentation, bills of materials, test requirements, and change records as needed.
• Analyze product performance, manufacturing data, customer feedback, and quality trends to identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Support regulatory, compliance, and customer-driven updates by assessing technical impact and coordinating implementation with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Provide technical guidance to internal teams regarding product capabilities, limitations, changes, and lifecycle status.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry, or a related technical discipline.
• Ability to understand product specifications, formulation or materials requirements, manufacturing processes, and quality systems.
• Strong problem-solving skills, including root cause analysis, data interpretation, and disciplined decision-making.
• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally with R&D, Quality, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate technical information for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience in wet chemistry lab environment; familiar with basic laboratory practice

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in product engineering, sustaining engineering, lifecycle engineering, manufacturing engineering, process engineering, quality engineering, or a related technical role.
• Experience supporting automotive fluids, industrial fluids, chemicals, coatings, lubricants, additives, or related formulated products.
• Knowledge of automotive, industrial, or chemical manufacturing environments.
• Experience with engineering change control, product lifecycle management systems, quality management systems, and bill of material management.
• Familiarity with statistical analysis, design of experiments, process capability, or continuous improvement tools.
• Experience supporting customer audits, supplier qualifications, regulatory updates, or technical customer inquiries
• Technical ownership and accountability
• Structured problem solving and root cause analysis
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Attention to detail and documentation discipline
• Business and customer focus
• Ability to balance quality, cost, manufacturability, and supply continuity

This opportunity offers a competitive benefits package including:

• Medical, dental,…