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 Project Engineer with a product design and manufacturing organization in Pennsylvania. This role will independently own new product development and sustaining engineering programs from concept and design through prototyping, tooling, commercialization, production launch, and ongoing line support. Projects span plastic and paper-based packaging components and vary across the product portfolio.

What You’ll Do
You’ll own product development programs from initial concept through commercialization and production support.

Key areas of focus include:

• Serve as the cradle-to-grave technical owner for assigned NPD and sustaining engineering programs
• Manage project scope, schedule, cost, risk, and technical integrity
• Develop products and part features using 3D CAD
• Use SolidWorks as the primary CAD platform
• Translate customer and commercial requirements into manufacturable designs and production-ready solutions
• Support equipment and tooling quotation activity
• Support prototype builds, sampling, tooling qualification, first-article review, and launch readiness
• Coordinate toolmakers and other vendors
• Review tooling concepts and prototypes
• Use internal 3D printers and other prototyping resources
• Partner with Sales, Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, manufacturing teams, and external suppliers
• Support production troubleshooting and product/process improvements on the manufacturing floor
• Support quality documentation and engineering change control
• Support DFM/DFA activities
• Support cost reduction and continuous improvement initiatives
• Support sustainability initiatives
• Evaluate material options including PP, LLDPE, HDPE, TPE, engineering resins, and other polymers

Who You Are
You have product design and development experience and can independently move projects from concept into a commercialized, production-ready state.

You are comfortable managing multiple priorities with limited guidance and working directly with manufacturing teams, suppliers, toolmakers, prototypes, and production launches.

Preferred Experience & Attributes
• Approximately 5–6+ years of product design, product development, project engineering, or related manufacturing engineering experience
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Plastics Engineering, Packaging Engineering, or related discipline
• Demonstrated experience taking products from concept through commercialization
• Ability to independently manage projects and multiple priorities
• Practical 3D CAD experience
• SolidWorks experience strongly preferred
• Experience designing parts and product features
• Experience working with manufacturing, prototypes, vendors, tooling, and production launches
• Injection molding product or process experience strongly preferred
• Understanding of injection mold and tooling design
• Ability to review tooling concepts and communicate with toolmakers
• Paper, fiber, packaging, or thermoformed product exposure is valuable
• Quality experience including FAI, DFMEA/PFMEA, DOE, design reviews, validation, or root-cause work is valuable
• Food packaging experience helpful but not required
• Experience with sustainability, lean manufacturing, Kaizen, Six Sigma, or cost-reduction programs is valuable

Why This Role Matters
This role will take ownership of diverse product-development programs across plastic and paper-based packaging components. The Project Engineer will have responsibility throughout the full development lifecycle and will work closely with both engineering and manufacturing teams to move products from concept into production.