Development Engineer Research (f/m/x)

What awaits you:

• Drive new material, process & product pre-development activities with focus on thermoplastic & composite technologies for Pentatonic battery systems and new product opportunities
• Develop and evaluate innovative thermoplastic, composite, and metal-plastic hybrid concepts through material selection, process development (primarily injection molding & composite lamination), prototyping and validation
• Lead R&D projects including cooperation with external partners, planning, execution, documentation, budget/capacity tracking, and regular project reviews
• Support customer-driven development activities and new product evaluations by providing material, process, and application expertise to cross-functional project teams
• Initiate and manage public funded research projects in cooperation with external partners, universities, institutes, and suppliers
  Contribute to the development of material characterization strategies and generation of CAE-relevant material data
• Translate research results into practical engineering guidelines, specifications, design recommendations, and internal knowledge assets
• Drive innovation through ideas, inventions, IP contributions, prototyping, sampling, and business-case-oriented technology assessments
• Support digitalization, AI-enabled engineering, and knowledge-management initiatives within Innovation-Research
• Mentor students, interns, trainees, and new colleagues, and supervise selected undergraduate or thesis projects
• Support EHS activities to ensure a safe workplace and adoption of safe working practices

What you'll need to succeed:

• Technical University Degree (M. Sc.) in Plastics Technology, Polymer Engineering, Material Sciences or a comparable field
• Strong practical experience and in-depth technical understanding of thermoplastic materials, fiber-reinforced composites, metal-plastic hybrid structures, and plastics processing, with particular emphasis on composite injection molding technologies
• Experience in technical project management, including project planning, coordination of work packages, stakeholder alignment, risk management, and documentation of results
• Experience with development, testing, or industrialization of automotive, battery, structural, or thermoplastic composite components is preferred
• Experience with publicly funded projects, external research partners, universities, institutes, or suppliers is preferred
• Affinity for digitalization and AI tools in engineering, knowledge management, or data-supported development workflows is preferred
• Network in the plastics, composites, automotive, or battery-related industry is preferred
• International experience and ability to work in cross-functional, global teams is preferred
• Fluent German and English language skills.