Sr Engineer R & D

About the role

The Asphalt Technology & Productivity Engineer plays a critical role in protecting and strengthening Owens Corning’s asphalt supply position. This role delivers business value by improving supply flexibility, reducing sourcing risk, supporting margin enhancement, and accelerating the qualification of asphalt sources, formulations, and process changes for internal Owens Corning Roofing needs and external Trumbull Asphalt commercial opportunities. The engineer applies material science, process fundamentals, laboratory testing, pilot-scale validation, plant trials, and data analysis to solve complex asphalt sourcing, formulation, manufacturing, and product performance challenges. The role directly supports business continuity, cost competitiveness, manufacturing reliability, and product performance by ensuring Owens Corning has flexible, technically validated asphalt supply options. The position is located at Owens Corning’s Asphalt R&D Lab in Summit, IL, with regular travel to the Science & Technology Center in Granville, OH and manufacturing plants across North America. The role works closely with the Asphalt R&D Team and partners across Asphalt Sourcing, Quality, Operations, Commercial Asphalt, Components R&D, Shingle R&D, Product Management, Legal, suppliers, manufacturing sites, and customers. Owens Corning is a leader in the building materials industry with a $4.4 billion Roofing Business operating asphalt and roofing manufacturing locations across the US and globally. Reports to: Asphalt R&D Leader. Span of Control: Individual contributor who works across asphalt products.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical evaluation, qualification, and management of asphalt supply sources, alternative materials, and supplier approval programs.
• Develop and execute laboratory, pilot, and manufacturing validation plans that assess material performance, consistency, compatibility, and business risk.
• Establish technical acceptance criteria, qualification protocols, and risk assessment frameworks that enable consistent supplier approval and sourcing decisions.
• Improve supply security through dual sourcing, contingency planning, proactive material screening, and technical strategies that reduce single-source dependency.
• Partner with Sourcing to identify, screen, qualify, approve, or disqualify raw material sources using data-based technical recommendations.
• Lead plant trials from design through execution, data analysis, recommendation, and implementation to support material qualification and commercialization.
• Apply principles of material science, statistical analysis, and experimental design to solve complex supply, process, and product performance challenges.
• Provide technical leadership across cross-functional teams including R&D, Product Development, Process Engineering, Operations, Quality, and Procurement.
• Oversee and provide technical direction for third-party manufacturing and testing activities related to asphalt materials and products.
• Provide technical support for asphalt manufacturing operations, including troubleshooting, quality improvement, process optimization, and productivity initiatives.
• Partner with Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, and Procurement teams to resolve material performance concerns, manufacturing and quality issues, and supply disruptions.
• Implement new raw materials, formulations, sourcing changes, and process improvements in manufacturing while maintaining product performance, quality, safety, and reliability.
• Evaluate technical risks associated with material, formulation, and process changes and