Senior Applications Engineer — Adhesives & Process

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

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.