Product Development Engineer

Accelera; Burlington (VT); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Accelera is seeking a senior Product Development Engineer to lead the full lifecycle of packaging and injection molding products. You will own system architecture, design reviews, and cross-functional collaboration across manufacturing, validation, and business development to deliver robust solutions.

The role emphasizes ownership, mentorship, and the translation of market needs into actionable technical concepts, with visibility into strategic project outcomes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related technical field.
• Over a decade of relevant experience in mechanical design and product development.
• Proven track record in complex engineered equipment, tooling, or mechanical product development.
• Strong analytical, decision-making, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills and time management with attention to detail.
• Leadership experience and ability to guide other engineers.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the technical progression of innovative products and tooling solutions from concept through production.
• Design system-level architectures and products, even where formal design protocols are not yet established.
• Translate market, business, and customer needs into technical product concepts.
• Lead or participate in FMEA and risk assessment activities and establish mitigation strategies.
• Collaborate with controls, software, electrical, fluid power, metallurgy, analysis, and manufacturing teams to ensure success.
• Drive product development milestones and ensure alignment with validation plans and release requirements.

Job description

We are a worldwide producer of sophisticated equipment and tooling for the plastics and packaging sectors, currently seeking a seasoned Product Development Engineer to join our internal engineering team. This position offers a high level of autonomy and visibility, requiring close collaboration with manufacturing, business development, validation, and various cross-functional groups to manage the full lifecycle of new packaging and injection molding products from initial architecture to final market launch.

About the Role

We are a worldwide producer of sophisticated equipment and tooling for the plastics and packaging sectors, currently seeking a seasoned Product Development Engineer to join our internal engineering team. This position offers a high level of autonomy and visibility, requiring close collaboration with manufacturing, business development, validation, and various cross-functional groups to manage the full lifecycle of new packaging and injection molding products from initial architecture to final market launch.

Core Responsibilities

• Oversee the technical progression of innovative products and tooling solutions from the initial concept stage through to production.
• Design system-level architectures and products, even in scenarios where formal design protocols have yet to be established.
• Translate diverse market, business, and customer needs into actionable technical product concepts.
• Contribute to the creation and assessment of business cases for emerging technologies and products.
• Develop system-level concepts, including functional decomposition, CAD layouts, and preliminary design frameworks.
• Facilitate and contribute to technical brainstorming, design reviews, and product definition efforts.
• Define and manage engineering documentation, product release requirements, and validation plans.
• Utilize fundamental mechanical engineering principles to drive product design, development, and troubleshooting.
• Select and size essential mechanical and electromechanical components, such as servo systems, gearboxes, bearings, motors, seals, and pneumatic/hydraulic parts.
• Determine appropriate materials and apply relevant design and engineering standards to ensure product integrity.
• Lead or participate in FMEA and risk assessment activities to help establish effective risk-mitigation strategies.
• Ensure all products adhere to necessary quality, performance, regulatory, and compliance standards.
• Collaborate closely with internal teams including Electrical, Software, Fluid Power, Metallurgy, Analysis, and Manufacturing to ensure project success.
• Drive product development and release milestones to ensure that all technical objectives are met on schedule.
• Identify and execute continuous improvement initiatives throughout the entire product development lifecycle.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to support the growth and development of other engineering team members.
• Act as a primary technical point of contact for external technology partners, suppliers, and customers.
• Communicate technical status, product strategies, and development concepts to executive leadership and internal stakeholders.
• Represent the engineering department in cross-functional initiatives to improve overall product development outcomes.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related technical field.
• Over a decade of relevant experience in mechanical design and product development.
• Proven track record in complex engineered equipment, tooling, or mechanical product development.
• Specialized expertise in packaging equipment, plastics processing, and injection molding tooling.
• Advanced knowledge of the assembly and manufacturing processes involved in injection molding.
• Extensive CAD modeling proficiency, with a preference for UG/NX experience.
• Strong grasp of design parameters, material selection, engineering calculations, and component sizing.
• Experience working with electromechanical and mechanical components, including hydraulic systems, pneumatic systems, servo motors, and bearings.
• Demonstrated success in guiding products from early-stage concepts through to manufacturing and validation.
• Strong analytical, decision-making, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills and time management with a focus on meticulous attention to detail.
• Proven ability to foster creativity and innovation within engineering and product development projects.
• Ability to take full ownership of projects and operate independently with minimal supervision.
• Experience in a leadership capacity, providing technical direction to fellow engineers.

Preferred Background

• Experience in the development of packaging-related products or injection molding tooling.
• Experience operating within a structured product release or development framework.
• Experience with technical risk assessment, validation planning, design reviews, and FMEA.
• Experience collaborating across diverse disciplines including controls, software, electrical, and mechanical.
• Experience serving as a technical lead or mentoring junior engineers.
• Hands-on mechanical aptitude with a deep understanding of how engineered products are serviced, tested, assembled, and manufactured.

Your Impact

We are looking for a senior-level mechanical and product development engineer who can act as the primary technical owner of a product, rather than someone who simply executes tasks assigned by others. The ideal candidate will be comfortable guiding an idea from its early conceptual stage through system architecture, detailed design, validation, and production, while effectively coordinating across multiple technical disciplines.

You should be proficient in the following areas:

• Thermodynamics
• Mechanical Design and Engineering
• Product Design Experience
• Aerospace Manufacturing
• Injection Molding Experience