R&D Project Engineer - Fiber Cement Product Development

At Etex, our purpose is to inspire new ways of living. We are an international leader in sustainable construction, driven by a passion for excellence, but it's our people that are our top priority. We connect, collaborate, and champion the well-being of our employees, forming partnerships and pioneering change in our ever-evolving industry.

At Etex, we seek to make a meaningful impact in the lives of our customers and our communities. Are you looking for a company where you can learn, grow & lead? Join us as R&D Project Engineer - Fiber Cement Product Development and be the driving force behind our innovative products!
 

The position of R&D Project Engineer is located within Etex Innovation & Technology Centre (Etex ITC), the central R&D department of Etex. All your tasks will contribute to Etex ITC's main mission: 1) The development of new building materials, 2) The development of new and/or optimization of existing building systems and 3) The technical support of the Etex companies/factories.
 

You will work as a project engineer within the 'Product and System Development and Testing - Fibre Cement' team. You will contribute to innovative fibre cement product/system developments. Think of (1) Special fixation methods for fiber cement slates, (2) Special textures for fiber cement cladding panels, (3) Use of fiber cement for terrace plank application. In the end, these fiber cement product/systems are brought to market under one of our brands such as Cedral and Equitone.

What You'll Do:

• Manage day-to-day R&D tasks in the field of fibre cement product and system development: Façade cladding, roofing and lightweight constructions.
• Contribute and eventually manage innovation project related to fiber cement duct development: drawing up a problem definition, defining a scope, appointing a team, division of tasks of the team, following up on tasks, project planning and managing the budget, participating in project review meetings with senior management.
• Provide technical/scientific assistance to the Etex companies/factories. This includes analysing building systems and formulating advice.
• Design and follow up internal lab tests (executed by lab personnel) in the context of new developments and assistance to factories. Coordinate the outsourcing of certain tests to universities or external laboratories.
• Follow up on new market developments as well as competitors.
• Maintain close contact with the various marketing departments to generate your own innovative ideas and be able to tailor new developments to the needs of the market.

What You'll Bring:

• Technical engineering degree (burgerlijk ingenieur), for example civil engineer, elektromechanical engineer.
• Experience in project management and/or product development is a plus but not a requirement.
• Planning and organizing skills, which allows you to work simultaneously on different projects in combination with providing technical assistance to the production sites.
• Combination of analytical reasoning with a hand-on mentality to develop new products as well as test methodologies together with the team.
• Ability to work independently within the context of a multidisciplinary team.
• Strong interest in the field of applied and experimental research. Experience with software packages for technical drawing (autoCAD, Solidworks), simulation (Comsol) and data analysis (Matlab/Python) are plus points. 
• Fluency in Dutch and English.
• Willingness to work majority of your time from a desk next to the test lab in Kapelle-op-den-Bos, Belgium.

Why Join Us?

• This job allows you to contribute to new product developments, tailored to specific markets in EU, but also in the rest of the world. It involves collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team. This way, the job has a lot of variation in tasks. The variation is further enlarged by combining the project management with being able to design and supervise the testing of the products in our own test lab.
• We are named the world's #1 most trustworthy company in the construction sector by Newsweek and Statista in 2023! And one of the top companies to grow your career in Belgium in 2023 according to LinkedIn!
• Our culture – we connect & care about those around us. We nurture teamwork, communities, partnerships and new ways of working, placing the highest importance on the safety and working environment of our people.
• Our ‘Road to Sustainability 2030’ is our plan to help build a better, sustainable future. We work towards this vision by caring about our social and environmental impacts and developing innovative solutions
• We have a strong conviction that diversity of thinking helps us to deliver a strong and sustainable performance. It is also essential for us that everyone feels part of the team. In this spirit, we are committed to equal opportunities and zero tolerance towards discrimination
• Flexibility: For us, hybrid and flexible working is all about trust, and we want you to be able to do your best work.