Senior Heat Treat Project Engineer

Career Area:

Job Description:

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.

When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other.  We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

Your Work Shapes the World

Whether it be groundbreaking products, best in class solutions or creating a lifelong career, you can do the work that matters at Caterpillar. With a 95-year legacy of quality and innovation and 150 locations in countries around the world, your impact spans the globe.

When you join Caterpillar, you are joining a team of makers, innovators, and doers. We are the people who roll up our sleeves and do the work to build a better world. We don’t just talk about progress and innovation. We make it happen. And we are proud of that, because it helps our customers build and power the world we live in – the roads, hospitals, homes, and infrastructure.  Without a dedicated workforce Caterpillar could not effectively meet our customer’s needs.  Join us.

Job Summary:

As the divisions Senior Engineering Specialist (R&D), you will provide leadership over complex and high visibility technical projects supporting our engineering, operations, and procurement organizations within North America. This position will report to Caterpillars Advanced Materials Technology (AMT) division with metallurgical oversight of the casting, fabrication, forging, Heat Treat, and steel related processes and technologies.  The primary focus of this individual will be supporting strategic sourcing, new technology implementation/transfer, and equipment modernization efforts totaling $10-30M annually.

What You Will Do:

• Provides metallurgical support to engineering, operations, procurement, and quality teams throughout the product development and manufacturing cycles.

• Assess and design new generation technology to meet enterprise product strategies.

• Integrates components and materials, assuring compliance with specifications and requirements.

Devises the testing and validation plans during equipment innovation and restoration initiatives.

Education Requirement:

• Requires a BS/MS degree in Materials Science or Metallurgical Engineering or equivalent level of metallurgical experience (8 yrs).

What Skills You Will Have:

• Practical knowledge of casting, Heat Treat, forging, and steel making processes and Caterpillar manufacturing standards.

• Extensive knowledge with support of heat-treat processes including; carburizing, direct hardening, induction hardening, nitriding, and vacuum processes.

•  Fundamental knowledge of casting, forging, steel making, and auxiliary processes for effective interaction with adjacent process partner(s).

• Advanced knowledge of characterization tools to validate process quality and guide troubleshooting (ferrous microstructures, HT microstructures, case-depth, forging flow and grain structure, microhardness, mechanical properties, and steel cleanliness).

• Applied knowledge of equipment automation, controls, electrical systems, and data collection systems to monitor processes and optimize their operation/quality.

• Strong knowledge of miscellaneous equipment and infrastructure adjacent to Heat Treat installations; including; cooling systems, isotropic finishing, power requirements, thermal deburr, tool design, wash systems.

• Mechanical and spatial visualization experience to support, component dimensional requirements, equipment design, tool design, and automation and process flow architecture.

• Strong business acumen to support; investment analysis (DCF), Procurement (contact/specs), and contractor management.

• Advanced data analysis skills, troubleshooting techniques, and quality control tools to sustain high levels of quality (Minitab, DOE, PFMEA, APQP, and SPC).

Planning: Tactical, Strategic:
• Develops, refines, and communicates tactical plans to key business clients
• Provides the right level of detail as input for strategic plan development.
• Demonstrates the value and necessity of linking tactical plans to overall strategic plan.
• Ensures attention to the detail and dependencies of existing departmental-level plans.
• Ensures the planning process is integrated with the overall business plan.
Analytical Thinking:
• Seeks discrepancies and inconsistencies in available information; explains variances.
• Organizes and prioritizes the sequence of steps to be taken to remedy the situation.
• Identifies many possible causes for a problem based on prior experience and current research.
• Utilize a Lean approach (costs, benefits, risks, timing, and business impact) prior to before recommending a course of action.
• Approaches a complex problem by breaking it down into its component parts.
• Advance the usage of analytical tools to expedite diagnostic journey(s)
Decision Making and Critical Thinking:
• Differentiates assumptions, perspectives, and historical frameworks.
• Evaluates past decisions for insights to improve decision-making process.
• Assesses and validates decision options and points and predicts their potential impact.
• Advises others in analyzing and synthesizing relevant data and assessing alternatives.
• Uses effective decision-making approaches such as consultative, command, or consensus.
• Ensures that assumptions and received wisdom are objectively analyzed in decisions.
Effective Communications:
• Reviews others' writing or presentations and provides feedback and coaching.
• Ability to prepare complex business and technical justifications to our diverse clients; engineering, operations, or procurement leadership.
• Demonstrates both empathy and assertiveness when communicating a need or defending a position.
• Ability to concisely articulate complex business and technical issues to all levels of organization
• Employs appropriate methods of persuasion when soliciting agreement.

• Ability to maintain audience focus and drive meaningful progress with targeted objectives
Technical Excellence:
• Fosters an environment that encourages, supports and rewards technical excellence.
• Provides recognized technical leadership to an organization that includes vision, innovation, superior technical competence and the desire to excel.
• Provides highly effective solutions to very complex technical challenges, applying outstanding technical competence to understand and resolve issues.
• Champions the use of new innovations and technologies that solve technical business problems.
• Consistently applies the latest developments, practices and technologies to resolve complex technical challenges in one's general area of competence.
• Develops organizational policies, best practices and management methods that are highly conducive to technical excellence.
Project Management:
• Utilizes preferred tools, techniques and methods for estimating project cost and time.
• Plans, estimates, staffs, organizes and monitors significant projects.
• Identifies risks and vulnerabilities; creates contingency plans.
• Conducts regular and ad-hoc project reviews with project team, sponsors, and clients.
• Maintains open communication among project participants and interested parties.
• Communicates reporting requirements; creates monitoring and control mechanisms.
Product Testing:
• Predicts industry and marketplace trends; explores new methods and technologies.
• Leads the evaluation, selection, and implementation of testing approaches, tools and scenarios.
• Mentors others in improving the throughput and efficiency of the manufacturing test processes.
• Oversees the testing processes of multiple products in a high-volume manufacturing environment.
• Consults on product-testing costs, tools, approaches and benefits.
• Directs the development of standards, guidelines and best practices for testing.
Troubleshooting Technical Problems:
• Evaluates business impact of failure and the criticality and timing of needed resolution.
• Resolves difficult or high-impact equipment and systems problems.
• Monitors machine performance and history; addresses excessive maintenance or repair needs.
• Coaches others how to resolve integration or communications problems in multi-vendor environment.
• Applies specific techniques for isolating a problem and defining resolution approach.
• Uses advanced diagnostic techniques and tools for unusual or performance-related problems.

Additional Information

The location for this position is East Peoria, IL

Domestic relocation assistance is available for this position.

This position may require up to 15% travel.

What You Will Get:

Our goal at Caterpillar is for you to have a rewarding career. Our teams are critical to the success of our customers who build a better world. Here you earn more than just wage, because we value your performance, we offer a total rewards package that provides:

• Competitive Base Salary
• Annual incentive bonus plan*
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holiday, Volunteer, Etc.)
• 401k savings plan
• Health savings account (HSA)
• Flexible spending accounts (FSAs)
• Short and long-term disability coverage
• Life Insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Healthy Lifestyle Programs
• Employee Assistance Programs
• Voluntary Benefits (Ex. Accident, Identity Theft Protection)

*Subject to annual eligibility and incentive plan guidelines.

Final details

Please frequently check the email associated with your application, including the junk/spam folder, as this is the primary correspondence method. If you wish to know the status of your application – please use the candidate log-in on our career website as it will reflect any updates to your status.

This employer is not currently hiring foreign national applicants that require or will require sponsorship tied to a specific employer, such as H, L, TN, F, J, E, O. As a global company, Caterpillar offers many job opportunities outside of the U.S. which can be found through our employment website at www.Caterpillar.com/Careers .

For more information, visit caterpillar.com. To connect with us on social media, visit caterpillar.com/social-media

#LI

Posting Dates:

Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.   

EEO/AA Employer.  All qualified individuals - Including minorities, females, veterans and individuals with disabilities - are encouraged to apply.

Not ready to apply? Join our Talent Community .