Product Development Engineer

Guided Search Partners; Tennessee; On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Guided Search Partners is seeking a Product Development Engineer / Project Engineer for a rigid plastic packaging company. The role blends project engineering and project management, leading customer-driven development from concept to commercialization and serving as a technical liaison across design, manufacturing, and operations.

You will guide design efforts, review bottle designs, oversee prototypes, testing, and launches, and travel to manufacturing plants and customer sites to support

Qualifications

• Rigid packaging experience required.
• Bottle development experience required.
• PET experience preferred.
• HDPE experience applicable.
• Strong understanding of bottles, caps, closures, and technical troubleshooting.
• Excellent customer-facing communication and presentation skills.
• Strong project management background preferred.
• PMP certification preferred.
• CATIA experience preferred.
• SolidWorks experience acceptable.
• Closures or caps experience preferred.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and extensive travel.

Responsibilities

• Lead product development projects from concept through commercialization.
• Manage projects throughout the new product development lifecycle.
• Serve as a technical liaison between customers, design, manufacturing, and operations.
• Coordinate customers, designers, operations, and manufacturing plants.
• Guide design efforts rather than perform day-to-day CAD design.
• Review bottle designs and provide engineering guidance.
• Oversee prototype builds, sampling, testing, and commercialization.
• Travel to manufacturing plants and customer facilities to support launches and troubleshoot issues.
• Manage multiple projects at one time.

Skills

Rigid packaging

Bottle development

Project management

Customer-facing communication

CATIA

SolidWorks

PMP

HDPE experience

PET experience

Education

PMP certification

Tools

CATIA

SolidWorks

Job description

Guided Search Partners (GSP)

Guided Search Partners is an Executive Search firm built on Trust, Transparency, Specialization, and Long-term Relationships. We connect high-performing professionals with organizations that value people, performance, and growth—helping leaders find roles where they can make an impact and build meaningful careers.

About the Opportunity

We’re supporting a search for a Product Development Engineer / Project Engineer with a rigid plastic packaging organization. This role sits within Product Development / PMO and has evolved into a hybrid project engineering and project management position. The Product Development Engineer / Project Engineer will lead customer-driven product development projects from concept through commercialization while serving as a technical liaison between customers, design, manufacturing, and operations. This is a strong fit for someone with rigid plastic packaging experience, bottle development knowledge, and the ability to manage multiple projects while working directly with customers and manufacturing teams.

What You’ll Do

You’ll manage customer-driven product development projects with a focus on engineering guidance, project execution, launch support, and commercialization.

Key Areas of Focus

• Lead product development projects from concept through commercialization
• Manage projects throughout the new product development lifecycle
• Serve as a technical liaison between customers, design, manufacturing, and operations
• Coordinate customers, designers, operations, and manufacturing plants
• Guide design efforts rather than perform day-to-day CAD design
• Review bottle designs and provide engineering guidance
• Oversee prototype builds, sampling, testing, and commercialization
• Travel to manufacturing plants and customer facilities to support launches and troubleshoot issues
• Manage multiple projects at one time

Who You Are

You are a technical project leader with rigid packaging expertise and strong customer-facing communication skills. You understand bottle development, technical troubleshooting, and how to work across design, manufacturing, operations, and customer teams. You are comfortable presenting to customers, supporting launches, and managing projects through the full development lifecycle. You would do well here if you are polished, organized, technically strong, and comfortable with extensive travel.

Preferred Experience & Attributes

• Rigid plastic packaging experience required
• Strong bottle development experience required
• PET experience preferred
• HDPE experience applicable
• Strong understanding of bottles, caps, closures, and technical troubleshooting
• Excellent customer-facing communication and presentation skills
• Strong project management background preferred
• PMP certification preferred
• CATIA experience preferred
• SolidWorks experience acceptable
• Closures or caps experience preferred
• Ability to manage multiple projects and extensive travel

Why This Role Matters

This role matters because customer-driven product development requires strong technical leadership, project coordination, and launch support. The Product Development Engineer / Project Engineer will help guide new product development from concept through commercialization while connecting customer needs with design, manufacturing, and operational execution.