Principal Application Engineer

Quick Facts - Role: Equipment and process development expert for the Santa Clara Application Engineering team - Work model: Fully onsite (5 days/week in Santa Clara office) - Travel: Approximately 20% international travel as needed Description Lead hands-on development and optimization of adhesive application processes and provide technical expertise across application equipment. Design custom fixtures and tooling to support laboratory and customer applications, mentor AE team members, and provide hands-on guidance and troubleshooting for customer projects. Responsibilities - Lead application process development, optimization, and scale-up for new and existing adhesive technologies - Operate, troubleshoot, optimize, and evaluate application equipment including liquid dispensing, jetting, printing, film application, coating, lamination, mixing, curing, and related technologies - Design and develop custom fixtures, jigs, tooling, and experimental setups based on application and testing requirements - Use CAD (or similar tools) to develop fixture designs and coordinate fabrication with internal/external resources - Develop experimental methods and test setups to improve process capability, repeatability, and laboratory efficiency - Provide hands-on technical support and troubleshooting for AE engineers, laboratory personnel, and customers - Evaluate new equipment and technologies and recommend solutions based on application requirements and process capability - Collaborate with R&D, Product Development, Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing, and customers to develop practical application solutions - Mentor AE team members in equipment operation, process development, and fixture design - Support global customer projects and travel internationally as needed (~20%) Requirements - Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with 10+ years of relevant experience, or Ph.D. with 6+ years of relevant experience - Prefer Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related discipline - Extensive hands-on experience with application equipment and process development - Experience with multiple application technologies beyond liquid dispensing (printing, film handling/application, coating, lamination, mixing, curing, or other manufacturing processes) - Strong mechanical aptitude; demonstrated ability to troubleshoot and optimize equipment and processes - Experience designing custom fixtures, jigs, tooling, and experimental setups; CAD experience preferred - Experience with adhesives, sealants, coatings, films, inks, or other functional materials preferred - Experience with automated equipment, robotics, or motion systems is a plus Benefits - Health Insurance: affordable plans for medical, dental, vision, and wellbeing starting on day 1 - Work-Life Balance: paid time off (sick, vacation, holiday, volunteer), flexible & hybrid work policies (depending on role), vacation buy/sell - Financial: 401k matching, employee share plan with voluntary investment and Henkel matching shares, annual performance bonus, service awards, student loan reimbursement - Family Support: 12-week gender neutral parental leave (up to 20 weeks for parents giving birth), fertility support, adoption & surrogacy reimbursement, discounted child and elderly care, scholarships - Career Growth: national and international growth opportunities, access to thousands of skills development courses, tuition reimbursement - Salary range: $145,000.00–$180,000.00; may be eligible for incentive pay or other compensation