Lead Design Engineer

Lead Design Engineer

Location: Plymouth, MN (On‑site)

The Lead Design Engineer is responsible for providing direction and leadership to the Design Department at Placon's Plymouth facility. This role ensures project management discipline, design accuracy, and on‑time execution that meet or exceed customer expectations.

This position leads the transformation of customer needs and requirements into successful thermoformed packaging solutions through the creation of product and tooling designs and specifications. Working collaboratively with customers, account managers, new product development teams, tooling vendors, and internal stakeholders, the Lead Design Engineer supports the full lifecycle of packaging solutions-from concept and tooling procurement through production implementation.

This role requires the ability to handle conflict and differing opinions in a constructive and professional manner that align with The Placon Way.

Essential Accountabilities

• Provide direction and leadership to the Plymouth design department, including scheduling and prioritization of workloads and coordination of external design resources when applicable.
• Evaluate individual and team performance; identify development goals aligned with strategic initiatives and departmental objectives.
• Create, manage, and report performance metrics to track design department effectiveness and customer satisfaction.
• Lead external tooling procurement efforts and manage supplier performance against defined criteria and specifications.
• Support Account Managers with technical expertise, present design solutions, and build strong customer relationships; represent Placon with customers when needed in the absence of the Account Manager.
• Lead ideation, concept development, and product design efforts for assigned projects; coordinate sampling, testing, and approvals.
• Create complex CAD geometry and detailed product and tooling drawings based on project evaluation, customer specifications, and approved quote assumptions.
• Apply deep knowledge of thermoforming and manufacturing processes to design solutions; align plastic materials and formulations with customer requirements.
• Ensure tooling specifications, optimization, and performance standards through collaboration with Pricing, Process Engineering, tooling vendors, and internal stakeholders.
• Support process engineering and production teams by providing tooling development input related to product design, equipment capability, process operation, and material suitability.
• Approve parts and maintain accuracy of specification databases.
• Review and initiate engineering change orders related to customer requests, purchasing changes, and specification evaluations.
• Support production lifecycle activities including corrective actions and financial impact analysis.
• Comply with all safety, ISO, and documented work instructions related to job responsibilities.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering or related field with 5+ years of product or tooling design experience
  OR
• Associate degree with 9+ years of product or tooling design experience in the plastics industry
• Demonstrated project management experience and supervisory or technical leadership capability
• Proficiency in 2D and 3D Computer‑Aided Design (CAD) systems

Desired Skills

• Proficiency with standard office software (word processing, spreadsheets)
• Thermoformed plastics manufacturing experience
• Knowledge of quality systems and controlled documentation
• Ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously
• Supervisory or technical leadership experience
• Strong organizational and time‑management skills
• Self‑directed with the ability to work with minimal supervision

Position Requirements

Work Environment

• Office, Manufacturing Floor, Tool Vault

Equipment & Tools

• Computer, phone, copier, measurement tools
• 2D and 3D CAD software
• Microsoft Office, Oracle

Physical Requirements

• Light Work (up to 10 lbs): Frequent (samples, small cases of parts)
• Medium Work (11–30 lbs): Frequent (cases of parts, tooling)
• Heavy Work (31–50 lbs): Occasional (tooling)

Mental & Interpersonal Requirements

• Reading, writing, calculation
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Reasoning and analytical problem solving
• Ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously with minimal supervision

Travel

• Minimal (less than 5%)
• Occasional travel to customers, vendors, or industry events