Advanced Materials Engineer, Global Materials Science

Socket.dev; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 137,000 - 186,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision Coverage

Paid Time Off

401(k)

Job summary

Amazon's Global Materials Science (GMS) organization is seeking an Advanced Materials Engineer to drive kraft paper grades and paper-based packaging at scale, working with mills, converters, and OEMs. You will bridge raw material production, machine design, and packaging performance, leading process improvements, coating/adhesive development, and capital projects for new converting lines.

This hands-on role rewards deep materials knowledge, collaboration, and the ability to translate engineering

Qualifications

• Experience developing functional specifications, design verification plans, and test procedures.
• Strong collaboration across engineering, procurement, and operations.
• Background in paper manufacturing, converting, and packaging materials.

Responsibilities

• Develop kraft paper grades for e-commerce packaging and extensibility.
• Optimize converting processes, adhesive systems, and coating applications.
• Lead piloting, FAT/SAT participation, and vendor collaborations.

Skills

Paper science

Package engineering

Cross-functional collaboration

Materials characterization

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or equivalent

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Process testing

Capital project analysis

Job description

Join Amazon's Global Materials Science (GMS) organization as we build the future of sustainable e-commerce packaging – from the paper machine through the converting line and into our global fulfillment network. As an Advanced Materials Engineer, you'll bring deep paper manufacturing, converting process, and equipment engineering expertise to drive materials innovation at scale. This is a hands‑on, technically rigorous role where you'll work directly with paper mills, converters, and equipment OEMs to develop, optimize, and scale kraft and extensible kraft paper grades and paper-based packaging formats. You'll bridge the gap between raw material production, machine design, converting operations, and Amazon's packaging performance requirements – turning process and equipment knowledge into breakthrough materials solutions.

Key job responsibilities

Paper Manufacturing Process Expertise:

• Apply deep knowledge of paper formation, wet end chemistry, pressing, drying, calendering, and rewinding to develop and optimize kraft paper grades for e-commerce packaging applications.
• Evaluate and improve basis weight, moisture profiles, and roll quality attributes in partnership with paper mill suppliers.
• Understand and leverage how unit operations at the paper mill level impact downstream paper properties — tensile, stretch, tear, stiffness, porosity, and surface characteristics.
• Support development and qualification of extensible kraft paper grades, including understanding of processes such as compaction, micro‑creping, and related technologies that impart extensibility.

Paper Converting & Packaging Manufacturing:

• Drive paper bag converting process development and optimization — including adhesive application, folding, gluing, label application, printing, and finishing operations.
• Evaluate how paper properties interact with converting equipment and processes to influence final package quality, runnability, and yield.
• Understand and troubleshoot converting line performance issues at the intersection of material properties and machine design — adhesive bond strength, ink adhesion, fold crack resistance, dimensional stability, and web handling behavior.
• Understand unit operations within paper bag converting — rewetting, drying, folding, creasing, gluing, rewinding — and how machine parameters at each stage affect final product quality.
• Understand vertical and horizontal bag formation processes and the material property requirements unique to each — including how paper stiffness, stretch, coefficient of friction, and grain direction influence bag geometry, seal integrity, and line speed.
• Collaborate with converting partners to optimize machine settings, reduce waste, and improve throughput for paper mailer and bag formats.

Equipment & Machine Design:

• Evaluate, specify, and help develop converting and paper processing equipment — including bag machines, folders, gluers, coaters, slitters, rewinders, and web handling systems.
• Apply mechanical engineering principles to understand how machine geometry, nip pressures, tensions, speeds, temperature zones, and dwell times affect material behavior and product quality.
• Collaborate with equipment OEMs and internal engineering teams on machine design, modification, and capability upgrades to process new paper grades and packaging formats.
• Develop equipment specifications and acceptance criteria for new converting machinery, including defining process windows and material‑machine interaction requirements.
• Understand and optimize tension control, web guiding, and web tracking systems across converting and rewinding operations — ensuring consistent material feed, alignment, and registration throughout the converting process.
• Evaluate bag formation machinery for both vertical form‑fill‑seal (VFFS) and horizontal converting configurations — understanding how machine design choices impact bag quality, material utilization, and throughput.
• Troubleshoot mechanical and process issues on converting lines — diagnosing whether root cause is material, machine, or process-related and driving solutions across all three.
• Support design reviews for new or modified converting equipment, providing materials and process perspective to ensure machines are designed for the target material properties.

Coatings, Adhesives & Web Processing:

• Lead development and qualification of coating and adhesive systems for paper packaging applications — including barrier coatings, heat‑seal coatings, water‑based adhesives, and hot‑melt adhesives.
• Evaluate coating weight, uniformity, adhesion, and functional performance across substrates and converting conditions.
• Work with coating and adhesive suppliers to optimize formulations and application processes for manufacturing scale.
• Understand rewetting, moisture conditioning, and drying operations as they relate to coating application, adhesive activation, and paper dimensional stability during converting.

Capital Projects & Piloting:

• Conduct techno‑economic analysis on capital projects related to paper manufacturing, converting equipment, and process technology investments.
• Lead piloting activities — from trial planning and execution at supplier facilities through data analysis and go/no‑go recommendations.
• Support equipment installation, commissioning, and startup for new converting and process technology deployments.
• Manage contractor relationships and coordinate technical workstreams during capital project execution.
• Participate in equipment design reviews, factory acceptance testing (FAT), and site acceptance testing (SAT) for new converting and process machinery.

Specifications & Quality:

• Define paper and converting material specifications based on critical performance thresholds required for packaging to protect products and survive the fulfillment network.
• Translate operational requirements into measurable material properties and acceptable ranges at both the paper mill and converter level.
• Develop quality control protocols and incoming material testing methodologies to ensure supplier compliance with specifications.

Supplier & Manufacturing Collaboration:

• Work directly with paper mills, converters, coating applicators, adhesive manufacturers, and equipment OEMs to develop and scale new materials, processes, and machinery.
• Conduct technical evaluations of supplier manufacturing capabilities, process controls, and quality systems.
• Guide suppliers on process optimization to achieve target material properties, consistency, and yield.
• Serve as the technical liaison between Amazon and its paper supply chain — translating Amazon's packaging requirements into actionable process and material targets for suppliers.

Cross-Functional Partnership:

• Collaborate with Packaging Engineering on materials-design integration and automation equipment compatibility.
• Partner with Global Procurement on strategic sourcing, supplier selection, and commercial negotiations.
• Support sustainability initiatives including carbon footprint reduction, recyclability, and responsible fiber sourcing.
• Provide technical expertise to program managers, product teams, and deployment teams.
• Communicate complex materials science and process engineering concepts clearly to technical and non‑technical audiences.

Documentation & Knowledge Sharing:

• Author technical reports, trial summaries, specifications documents, and process development reports.
• Document experimental procedures, process parameters, results, and learnings to build institutional knowledge.
• Present findings at design reviews, technical workshops, and leadership reviews.
• Contribute to intellectual property generation through public disclosures and patent applications.
• Mentor junior engineers and technicians on paper science, process engineering, and materials testing methodologies.

A day in the life

You start your morning reviewing overnight data from a paper mill trial — a new kraft grade designed for extensibility that your team has been developing with the supplier for months. The basis weight and moisture profiles are dialing in, but the calender settings need adjustment to hit the target smoothness without sacrificing stretch. You draft detailed feedback for the mill's process engineers and schedule a call to walk through the data together.

By midday, you're on-site at a converting partner evaluating a new paper bag line. The adhesive application window is tight, and you're troubleshooting a bond strength issue tied to paper surface energy. Your experience on the mill side tells you this is a calendering interaction — you suggest a surface treatment adjustment and design a quick trial matrix to validate it.

After lunch, you're reviewing mechanical drawings for a new converting line with the equipment OEM. The folding geometry needs adjustment to handle a heavier basis weight kraft, and the glue application nozzles need repositioning for the new bag format. You mark up the drawings and jump on a call with the OEM's design team to walk through the changes — this is where your machine design instincts meet your materials knowledge.

Late afternoon, you shift to a techno‑economic model for a capital project — a new offline process technology that could produce extensible-like properties from standard kraft. You're pulling together equipment costs, operating assumptions, and projected material savings to build the business case for leadership. Your day ends with a cross-functional sync where you're bridging the gap between procurement's supplier negotiations, engineering's packaging performance requirements, and the mill's process constraints. You're the person who speaks all three languages — materials, machines, and business.

This role is for someone who's spent time on the manufacturing floor — who knows what a wet end looks like at 3 AM during a grade change, and who can translate that experience into materials innovation at Amazon's scale.

Amazon offers a full range of benefits for you and eligible family members, including domestic partners and their children. Benefits can vary by location, the number of regularly scheduled hours you work, length of employment, and job status such as seasonal or temporary employment. The benefits that generally apply to regular, full-time employees include:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage
• Maternity and Parental Leave Options
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• 401(k) Plan

About the team

The Global Materials Science (GMS) organization is Amazon's Center of Excellence for packaging materials development and supply chain transformation. Our team represents a fundamental shift in how Amazon approaches packaging innovation — moving from supplier-dependent solutions to owning the invention, development, and optimization of materials that power our fulfillment network.

Our Mission

We build deep expertise in packaging materials through rigorous research and process development, create innovative packaging solutions that unlock automation potential and sustainability improvements, and establish robust supply chains that deliver superior solutions at lower cost.

Our Vision

To be the global leader in e-commerce packaging materials science and innovation, enabling the best customer packaging experience at the lowest cost to serve.

What Makes Us Unique

We're not just specifying materials — we're fundamentally understanding them through the materials science framework of processing, structure, and properties. Our capabilities span from molecular-level materials characterization, through paper manufacturing and converting process development, to full packaging system testing and automation compatibility validation. This end-to-end ownership enables us to innovate faster, unlock step-change improvements impossible for suppliers alone, and maintain freedom to operate across multiple supply chains.

Our Impact

We're driving Amazon's transition from plastic to paper packaging, developing breakthrough materials and establishing supply chains that reduce costs while advancing our 2040 net-zero commitment. Our work directly influences automation success, customer experience, and sustainability metrics across the global fulfillment network.

Our Culture

We operate with high technical rigor while moving at startup speed. We embrace calculated risk-taking in R&D, fail fast, and iterate based on data. We believe in radical collaboration — our success requires seamless partnership across engineering, procurement, operations, sustainability, and our supplier partners. We're building something that's never been done before in e-commerce, and we're looking for engineers who thrive in ambiguity, bring deep process knowledge, and are energized by complex, high-impact challenges.

Our Team

We bring together materials scientists, paper engineers, chemists, process engineers, and program managers who are passionate about solving hard problems. We partner with world-class paper mills, converters, academic institutions, and internal Amazon teams to push the boundaries of what's possible in packaging materials.

Basic Qualifications

• Experience in developing functional specifications, design verification plans and functional test procedures
• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or equivalent
• 5+ years of relevant professional experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or equivalent
• Experience working with interdisciplinary teams to execute product design from concept to production
• Experience with the project management of technical projects

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.

USA, WA, Seattle - 137,300.00 - 185,700.00 USD annually

USA, WA, Sumner - 137,300.00 - 185,700.00 USD annually