Principal Application Engineer

Henkel; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 145,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Work-Life Balance

Financial: 401k matching

Family Support

Career Growth

Job summary

Henkel in Santa Clara's Adhesive Technologies unit seeks an experienced Engineer to lead application process development and equipment optimization for adhesives, sealants, and coatings.

You will mentor the AE team, design fixtures with CAD, collaborate across R&D, Sales, Manufacturing, and travel ~20%. This onsite role requires a strong engineering background and hands-on discipline.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with 10+ years of relevant experience, or Ph.D. with 6+ years.
• Extensive hands‑on experience with application equipment and process development.
• Experience with multiple application technologies beyond liquid dispensing, such as printing, film handling/application, coating, lamination, mixing, curing.
• Strong mechanical aptitude and ability to troubleshoot and optimize equipment and processes.
• Experience designing custom fixtures, jigs, tooling, and experimental setups; CAD experience is preferred.
• Experience with adhesives, sealants, coatings, films, inks, or other functional materials is preferred.
• Experience with automated equipment, robotics, or motion systems is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead hands‑on development and optimization of adhesive application processes, provide technical expertise across a broad range of application equipment, and design custom fixtures and tooling to support laboratory and customer applications
• Provide technical guidance to the AE team and hands‑on support for customer projects
• Serve as the equipment and process development expert for the Santa Clara Application Engineering team
• Operate, troubleshoot, optimize, and evaluate a broad range of application equipment, including liquid dispensing, jetting, printing, film application, coating, lamination, mixing, curing, and related technologies
• Lead application process development, optimization, and scale‑up for new and existing adhesive technologies
• Design and develop custom fixtures, jigs, tooling, and experimental setups based on application and testing requirements
• Use CAD or similar tools to develop fixture designs and work with internal or external resources for fabrication
• Develop experimental methods and test setups to improve process capability, repeatability, and laboratory efficiency
• Provide hands‑on technical support and troubleshooting for AE engineers, laboratory personnel, and customers
• Evaluate new equipment and technologies and recommend solutions based on application requirements and process capability
• Collaborate with R&D, Product Development, Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing, and customers to develop practical application solutions
• Mentor AE team members in equipment operation, process development, and fixture design
• Support global customer projects and travel internationally as needed, with approximately 20% travel expected
• This role is fully onsite, requiring 5 days per week in the Santa Clara office

Skills

Application equipment

Process development

Mechanical aptitude

Troubleshooting

CAD experience

Robotics / motion systems

Education

Engineering degree (B.S./M.S./PhD)

Ph.D. in Engineering

Related engineering field

Tools

CAD software

Automated equipment

Robotics

Job description

About this Position

At Henkel, you’ll be part of an organization that’s shaping thefuture through innovation, sustainability and collaboration. With our trustedbrands like Persil®, ‘all®, Loctite®, Snuggle®, and Schwarzkopf® and ourcutting-edge technologies, you’ll have countless opportunities to explore newpaths and grow.

This position is with our Adhesive Technologies business unit –where we empower our people to transform industries and provide our customerswith a competitive advantage through adhesives, sealants and functionalcoatings.

Dare to learn new skills, advance inyour career and make an impact at Henkel.

What you´ll do

• Lead hands‑on development and optimization of adhesive application processes, provide technical expertise across a broad range of application equipment, and design custom fixtures and tooling to support laboratory and customer applications
• The individual will also provide technical guidance to the AE team and hands‑on support for customer projects
• Serve as the equipment and process development expert for the Santa Clara Application Engineering team
• Operate, troubleshoot, optimize, and evaluate a broad range of application equipment, including liquid dispensing, jetting, printing, film application, coating, lamination, mixing, curing, and related technologies
• Lead application process development, optimization, and scale‑up for new and existing adhesive technologies
• Design and develop custom fixtures, jigs, tooling, and experimental setups based on application and testing requirements
• Use CAD or similar tools to develop fixture designs and work with internal or external resources for fabrication
• Develop experimental methods and test setups to improve process capability, repeatability, and laboratory efficiency
• Provide hands‑on technical support and troubleshooting for AE engineers, laboratory personnel, and customers
• Evaluate new equipment and technologies and recommend solutions based on application requirements and process capability
• Collaborate with R&D, Product Development, Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing, and customers to develop practical application solutions
• Mentor AE team members in equipment operation, process development, and fixture design
• Support global customer projects and travel internationally as needed, with approximately 20% travel expected
• This role is fully onsite, requiring 5 days per week in the Santa Clara office

What makes you a good fit

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with 10+ years of relevant experience, or Ph.D. with 6+ years of relevant experience, preferably in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• Extensive hands‑on experience with application equipment and process development.
• Experience with multiple application technologies beyond liquid dispensing, such as printing, film handling/application, coating, lamination, mixing, curing, or other manufacturing processes.
• Strong mechanical aptitude and demonstrated ability to troubleshoot and optimize equipment and processes.
• Experience designing custom fixtures, jigs, tooling, and experimental setups; CAD experience is preferred.
• Experience with adhesives, sealants, coatings, films, inks, or other functional materials is preferred.
• Experience with automated equipment, robotics, or motion systems is a plus.

Some benefits of joining Henkel

• Health Insurance: affordable plans for medical, dental, vision and wellbeing starting on day 1
• Work-Life Balance: Paid time off including sick, vacation, holiday and volunteer time, flexible & hybrid work policies (depending on role), and vacation buy / sell program
• Financial: 401k matching, employee share plan with voluntary investment and Henkel matching shares, annual performance bonus, service awards and student loan reimbursement
• Family Support: 12-week gender neutral parental leave (up to 20 weeks for parents giving birth), fertility support, adoption & surrogacy reimbursement, discounted child and elderly care, and scholarships
• Career Growth: diverse national and international growth opportunities, access to thousands of skills development courses, and tuition reimbursement

The salary range for this role is $145,000.00 and $180,000.00. This range represents the good‑faith minimum and maximum wages the Company reasonably expects to offer for this role at the time of posting. In addition to base salary, this position may be eligible for incentive pay or other forms of compensation, as applicable. The Company also offers a comprehensive benefits package as described above. Actual compensation will be based on factors such as the candidate’s skills, experience, education, training, and work location. This posting is intended to comply with all applicable state and local pay transparency laws.
Henkel does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms or employment agencies. Unsolicited referrals and resumes are considered Henkel property and therefore, Henkel will not pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited referral.
At Henkel, we come from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. We believe the uniqueness of all our employees is the power in us. Henkel is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, and other legally protected categories.