Product Development Engineer – Automotive Aftermarkets

About the role

Join 3M as a Product Development Engineer focused on Automotive Aftermarket Paint Finishing Systems. You will work on chemical‑based product platforms, supporting formulation, batch processing, and product lifecycle management to bring innovative solutions to market.

Key responsibilities

• Provide formulation support, batch processing, and mixing operations for chemical products.
• Improve existing products and support new product introductions, ensuring successful scale‑up and manufacturing readiness.
• Maintain product lifecycle activities such as continuous improvement, risk reduction, and change implementation.
• Author and update technical documentation including specifications, bills of materials, formulas, and work instructions.
• Investigate product and process issues using structured problem‑solving, data analysis, and lab testing.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams (R&D, operations, quality, supply chain, procurement, regulatory, EHSS).
• Support test method development, product validation, and performance evaluations.
• Assist in scaling new formulations and prototypes into manufacturable products and prepare design transfer documentation.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree or higher in chemistry, chemical engineering, or a related field.
• At least two years of experience in research & development, product engineering, manufacturing, scale‑up, process development, or new product introduction.
• Experience with product lifecycle documentation (specifications, formulas, SOPs, BOMs, work instructions).
• Proficiency in experimental design, statistical analysis, and data‑driven decision making.
• Background with formulated chemical products such as liquids, blends, coatings, treatment compounds, bonding or specialty materials.
• Knowledge of formulation chemistry, including additives, emulsions, solvents, and surfactants.

Required skills

• Formulation chemistry
• Batch processing and mixing operations
• Product lifecycle management
• Technical documentation authoring
• Structured problem solving
• Data analysis and statistical methods
• Lab testing and experimental design