Sr Product Development Engineer

The Senior Product Development Engineer is a critical technical leader within Worthington Enterprises' Innovation team, supporting the Building Products portfolio and enabling the next generation of growth through differentiated products and services. This role is responsible for shaping and executing high-impact product development from early concept through commercialization, while demonstrating strong engineering fundamentals, deep practical manufacturing understanding, and customer-facing professionalism.

This engineer owns operations of Worthington's new Innovation Lab-establishing and managing lab safety systems, equipment strategies, intake and prioritization processes, and day-to-day operations through direct oversight of a lab technician. The role is highly customer-facing, regularly interacting with contractors, OEMs, distributors, and end users to translate real-world needs into actionable product requirements.

Success requires an engineer who is hands-on, practical, entrepreneurial, and confident representing Worthington externally. This individual will mentor junior engineers, lead major new product platforms, and serve as the technical owner for customer engagements, ensuring Worthington builds solutions that are manufacturable, commercially relevant, and aligned with strategic growth.

Responsibilities

• Product Development Leadership
  
  
  
  • Lead engineer on new products and with specialty in design for manufacturability
  • Develop and iterate design concepts in 3D CAD for rapid learning, customer review, and subsequent refinement.
  • Advise on in-house versus outsourced manufacturing options by understanding Worthington's production capabilities and operational constraints.
  • Drive cross-functional technical alignment with Corporate Engineering, Plant Engineering, Quality, Sourcing, and Product Management.
  
  
• Customer & Market Engagement
  
  
  
  • Serve as a technical representative of Worthington during customer interactions, field visits, contractor demonstrations, and technical sales support activities.
  • Conduct onsite visits to customer locations and contractor job sites to understand real-world performance needs and validate prototypes.
  • Represent Worthington by walking and researching industry expos, identifying emerging trends, technologies, and competitive product architectures.
  
  
• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Engineering Excellence
  
  
  
  • Own operations of the new mixed-use Innovation Lab with accountability for safety, compliance, and operational excellence - and through empowerment of your direct report, our lab technician.
  • Facilitate and participate in D/PFMEAs, design reviews, manufacturability assessments, and risk-reduction activities.
  • Collaborate closely with Corporate and Plant Engineering to ensure smooth transition from prototype to production, including advising on final drawing release.
  • Provide engineering mentorship to junior engineers, modeling best practices in technical judgment, communication, and problem solving.
  
  

Critical Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

• Demonstrated ability to design for manufacturability, evaluate operational constraints, and guide make-vs-buy decisions.
• Practical, hands-on mindset with willingness to engage directly in lab, shop floor, & customer settings
• Bias for action; thrives in fast-paced, dynamic, entrepreneurial environments.
• Ability to rapidly iterate and test concepts through prototyping and structured experimentation; proficient in a 3D CAD package for quick design iterations
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills; confident presenting and distilling complex technical issues to business stakeholders and customers
• Highly collaborative and adept at building trust across disciplines and levels of the organization.
• Comfortable working in ambiguity
• Self motivated and team player mentality
• People Leadership & Development: Effectively manages, empowers, coaches, and provides timely, constructive feedback to a direct and indirect reports
• Business Acumen - Identifies cost and risks at the component and sub-assembly level to meet defined cost targets

Preferred Experience

• 3+ years of new product development experience
• Experience running or contributing to engineering lab operations, specifically CNC mill, CNC lathe, MIG/TIG welders
• Experience working closely with production facilities to integrate designs into manufacturing environments
• Exposure to codes and regulations relevant to pressure vessels (e.g., CFR 49, ASME BPV, NFPA 58)
• Experience leading cross-functional teams, supplier interactions, or customer engagements
• Technical understanding of roll forming of sheet metal, including process fundamentals
• Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) or similar structured problem-solving certification.

Education/Training Required

• 7-9 years of engineering experience, including meaningful hands-on exposure to manufacturing and/or lab environments
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in an ABET-accredited manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, manufacturing technology, or engineering program.
• Project leadership experience preferred
• Ability to travel 10-25% for customer visits, field insights, and industry forums