Advanced Development Engineer

Colonial Group; Troy (MI); On-site; USD 95,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Colonial Group is seeking an Advanced Development Engineer to help develop and industrialize emerging surface and functional technologies for North America, including plastics, films, coatings, and related innovations. You will translate concepts into manufacturable applications and lead technical discussions with customers, supporting sales activities and project execution.

The role emphasizes hands-on development, risk assessment, and cross-functional collaboration to deliver customer-ready

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Materials Science, Manufacturing, or related technical field.
• Experience in product development, advanced development, manufacturing engineering, materials, process development, technical sales support, or launch support.
• Working knowledge of automotive manufacturing, plastics, PUR, decorative or functional films, surface technologies, functional integration, validation, tooling, or related processes.
• Ability to evaluate feasibility, cost, timing, technical risk, supplier readiness, and manufacturing impact.
• Ability to lead customer technical discussions and explain emerging technologies with confidence, clarity, and credibility.
• Strong cross-functional communication, problem-solving, ownership, and follow-through skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and evaluate emerging advanced plastics, film, surface, and functional technologies for customer, program, and market needs.
• Assess feasibility, cost, timing, performance, validation requirements, manufacturing risk, and application limits.
• Translate material and process concepts into practical applications for RFQs, innovation reviews, customer discussions, and new business opportunities.
• Create application guidelines, design considerations, validation plans, and lessons learned for repeatable use.
• Define plant implementation needs for advanced development applications, including process standards, trial plans, validation builds, and launch-readiness criteria.
• Work with manufacturing, quality, suppliers, purchasing, and plant teams to confirm feasibility, scalability, repeatability, cost impact, and timing risk.
• Support prototype trials, production builds, issue resolution, and handoff from advanced development into program execution.
• Lead or support customer technology meetings, innovation reviews, and technical workshops with a clear, credible technical point of view.
• Communicate confidently with customers about technology options, application benefits, feasibility, risks, timing, development maturity, and production readiness.
• Partner with sales, customer business units, engineering, and program teams to position technologies appropriately for RFQs, customer pursuits, and early adoption opportunities.
• Convert customer input into actionable technology requirements, development priorities, risk items, and next-step recommendations.
• Identify and evaluate suppliers, materials, tooling concepts, and manufacturing processes for advanced development projects.
• Assess supplier capability, maturity, risk, capacity, and development support needs.
• Coordinate technical input across engineering, design, manufacturing, quality, purchasing, sales, suppliers, and plant teams.

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Materials Science, Manufacturing, or related technical field

Experience in product development, advanced development, manufacturing engineering, materials, process development, technical sales support, or launch support

Working knowledge of automotive manufacturing, plastics, PUR, decorative or functional films, surface technologies, functional integration, validation, tooling, or related processes

Ability to evaluate feasibility, cost, timing, technical risk, supplier readiness, and manufacturing impact

Ability to lead customer technical discussions and explain emerging technologies with confidence, clarity, and credibility

Strong cross-functional communication, problem-solving, ownership, and follow-through skills

Job description

Advanced Development Engineer

Position Summary

The Advanced Development Engineer will help develop and industrialize emerging surface and functional technologies for North America, including development projects in advanced plastics, PUR, decorative and functional films, radar-transparent solutions, ADAS integration, coatings, lighting integration, and other market-driven innovations.

This role supports the Innovation team by turning early technology concepts into practical, manufacturable applications that strengthen our customer value proposition and market position.

The role also serves as a customer-facing technical partner, able to lead technology discussions, support technical sales activity, and speak confidently about feasibility, development status, risks, and customer adoption opportunities.

Primary Responsibilities

Advanced Development & Application

• Develop and evaluate emerging advanced plastics, film, surface, and functional technologies for customer, program, and market needs.
• Assess feasibility, cost, timing, performance, validation requirements, manufacturing risk, and application limits.
• Translate material and process concepts into practical applications for RFQs, innovation reviews, customer discussions, and new business opportunities.
• Create application guidelines, design considerations, validation plans, and lessons learned for repeatable use.

Industrialization & Launch Readiness

• Define plant implementation needs for advanced development applications, including process standards, trial plans, validation builds, and launch-readiness criteria.
• Work with manufacturing, quality, suppliers, purchasing, and plant teams to confirm feasibility, scalability, repeatability, cost impact, and timing risk.
• Support prototype trials, production builds, issue resolution, and handoff from advanced development into program execution.

Customer & Technical Sales Leadership

• Lead or support customer technology meetings, innovation reviews, and technical workshops with a clear, credible technical point of view.
• Communicate confidently with customers about technology options, application benefits, feasibility, risks, timing, development maturity, and production readiness.
• Partner with sales, customer business units, engineering, and program teams to position technologies appropriately for RFQs, customer pursuits, and early adoption opportunities.
• Convert customer input into actionable technology requirements, development priorities, risk items, and next-step recommendations.

Supplier & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Identify and evaluate suppliers, materials, tooling concepts, and manufacturing processes for advanced development projects.
• Assess supplier capability, maturity, risk, capacity, and development support needs.
• Coordinate technical input across engineering, design, manufacturing, quality, purchasing, sales, suppliers, and plant teams.

Key Deliverables

• Technology feasibility assessments, risk summaries, customer-ready technical summaries, and roadmap input for advanced development projects, including PUR, films, advanced plastics, and related technologies.
• Application guidelines, validation plans, and lessons learned.
• Customer meeting materials, technical selling points, and technology positioning support for RFQs, innovation reviews, and customer pursuits.
• Supplier evaluations, technical development plans, and sourcing recommendations.
• Prototype, trial, launch-readiness, and plant handoff documentation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Materials Science, Manufacturing, or related technical field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
• Experience in product development, advanced development, manufacturing engineering, materials, process development, technical sales support, or launch support.
• Working knowledge of automotive manufacturing, plastics, PUR, decorative or functional films, surface technologies, functional integration, validation, tooling, or related processes.
• Ability to evaluate feasibility, cost, timing, technical risk, supplier readiness, and manufacturing impact.
• Ability to lead customer technical discussions and explain emerging technologies with confidence, clarity, and credibility.
• Strong cross-functional communication, problem-solving, ownership, and follow-through skills.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a practical technical problem solver who can connect emerging technology concepts to manufacturable solutions, communicate confidently with customers and internal stakeholders, work through ambiguity, and drive development work forward across functions.