Product Development Scientist

**First Quality** was founded in 1989 and, in nearly three decades, has grown to be a global privately held company with over 4,000 employees. Its corporate offices are located in Great Neck, New York, with manufacturing facilities and offices in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia, and Canada. First Quality is a diversified family of companies manufacturing consumer products ranging from Absorbent Hygiene (adult incontinence, feminine care, and baby care), Tissue (bath and towel), and Industrial (print and packaging materials and thermoformed plastics), serving institutional and retail markets throughout the world. First Quality focuses on private label and branded product lines.

Our core business philosophy is built on a proud culture driven by safety and quality, respect, humility, integrity, customer focus, and teamwork. With leading edge manufacturing technologies and processes and visionary leadership, First Quality is positioned to continue significant growth in the coming years. We are seeking an experienced **Product Development Scientist **for our **First Quality **facility located in **Lewistown, PA.**

**This position will be responsible for the development and innovation of current and new products that meet and exceed customer/consumer needs while still meeting required cost targets. This position reports directly to the Product Development Leader and play a crucial role in driving innovation and ensuring the successful launch of high-quality products.**

**Primary responsibilities include**:

- Lead the development of new products from concept through commercialization. Benchmark competitive products, create initial specification, produce concept samples, scale up process, confirm process capabilities, and finalize specifications as needed to ensure successful commercial production.
- Work in close collaboration with Sales/Marketing, Engineering, and Operations in order to identify opportunities for new products and improvements to current products.
- Researches and maintains up-to-date information on competitive products and relevant research and patent literature.
- Work closely with suppliers’ technical staff on development efforts.
- Work with Process Engineers and Quality Assurance to optimize the technical and economic performance of existing products.
- Maintain extensive contacts with material suppliers to allow development of new materials and optimize the performance of current raw materials. Responsible for coordinating, analyzing, & documenting Product Development trials while interacting with Process Engineering, Operations and Quality Assurance.
- Organize trials from the planning stages, monitoring runs and post-trial requirements.
- Ability to leverage Design of Experiments; Test products to assess product performance and attributes, New raw materials to evaluate their properties and determine their impact on finished goods, and Competitive products (benchmarking). Maintain a historical database, and provide summaries as needed.
- Responsible for interpreting data for such purposes as quality control, process control, cost savings, and/or product development.
- Assist in Consumer Usage Testing through product preparation and record keeping as well as data compilation and basic analysis.
- Maintain excellent data collection and research records.
- Devise/revise procedures, work instructions, and specifications (raw material, in-process, and finished goods).
- Ensure that all pertinent FQ GMP and Design Control requirements are met and maintain the necessary records.
- Prepare product samples for Sales, independent lab assessments, and product safety evaluations.
- Establish effective working relationships with other departments (Engineering, Quality, Production Planning, & Production) to achieve product improvement, new product development, cost saving, and/or quality initiatives.
- Provide recommendations for improvements to our products, testing methods, processes, and potential cost savings.
- Assist the Product Development Leader with other responsibilities, as requested.
- Four-year technical degree (e.g. Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering) or equivalent; additional business studies preferred.
- Two + years Product Development experience in the Consumer Products or Medical /Healthcare industries, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
- Excellent project management skills, with the ability to prioritize tasks, meet deadlines, and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
- Strong analytical skills and attention to detail; strong written and oral communication skills.
- Self-motivated and proactive attitude, with a passion for innovation and continuous improvement.
- Knowledge of GMP, FDA, ISO 13485, and other applicable quality standards and regulations is preferred.

**Excellent compensation and benefit package**
- First Quality is com