The Mission

Your mission is to lead the technical execution of materials product engineering for MicroTau’s microstructured film products. You will be reporting to the Product Engineering Team lead, driving the development of the material composition of MicroTau products, guiding team members through the product engineering framework, and providing technical mentorship to relevant team members. 

Outcomes

• You will lead the engineering development of MicroTau material products, from setting verification criteria through to validation testing and handover to manufacturing, and lead the unblocking of technical issues as they arise.

• You will ensure engineering systems are in place that result in the development of material products suitable for use in scale commercial applications with regulatory considerations and requirements.

• You will be able to make evidence based recommendations for changes to development pathways based on updated needs, timelines and budgetary constraints and clearly communicate the impact of changes to the wider engineering team.

• You will identify technical capability improvement opportunities for team members and mentor them to improve their skill set.

• You will develop effective communication pathways with other functional groups to ensure flow of information in an efficient manner.

Knowledge & Skills

• Degree in relevant discipline e.g. Engineering or Chemistry

• Experience in leading the material development of a scale volume commercial grade product through full product development cycles from specification setting through to product testing and manufacturing handover, with exposure to startups and regulatory environments e.g. familiarity with automotive/medical/aviation regulation, agile product engineering methodologies and internationally recognised quality management systems (ISO9001, AS9100)

• Experience in leading material product engineering developments for applications in harsh environments e.g. aviation, automotive, aerospace, marine

Key Responsibilities

• Leading the development of material products using key engineering skill sets in the context of producing a commercial aviation product that has been designed to conform to performance, durability and regulatory requirements e.g. setting verification criteria, quantitative risk analysis (DFMEA), design for performance, manufacturability, usability, cost, performance and lifetime, design sensitivity analysis and tolerance setting, product data management, validation assessments and manufacturing handover.

• Leading changes to the Engineering framework for material product engineering.

• Developing design guides and methodologies to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the design cycle and link design elements to performance criteria.

• Conducting experiments and driving problem solving processes using appropriate methodologies e.g. Design of Experiment concepts, 8D problem solving, performing appropriate statistical analysis of results such as analysis of variance and calculating statistical significance of results.

• Liaising and driving technical discussions and assessments with suppliers to a level sufficient for supplier qualification for a commercial product that complies with an internationally recognised quality management system.

• Engineering products using systems that conform to a Quality Management System framework e.g ISO9001 or AS9100.

• Mentoring team members to become proficient in materials product engineering capabilities within the overarching product engineering framework.

• Monitor and communicate project progress and escalate changes in project execution that modify the timing, budget or impact of key milestones of a project. Rapidly address and unblock technical issues to maintain project timelines.

• Navigate and make evidence guided decisions in complex, ambiguous and dynamic situations effectively.

About MicroTau

MicroTau prints nature’s surfaces to solve human problems. Taking inspiration from the animal world’s most creative (and deadly) engineers, we are making the materials that will make our world a faster, cleaner, and greener place. 

Our ambition is to put ‘shark skin’ film on planes, saving US$8 billion in fuel and 40 million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. To get us there, we’re working with the largest aviation manufacturers and operators in the world. Our product can help aircraft fly further and faster, carry greater payloads, and perform tighter, faster manoeuvres. We’ve invented and built the manufacturing technology to do this, but we’re not done yet.

In 2022 we closed a seed funding round and we’re proud to have the backing of some of Australia’s largest investors. We’ve recently been awarded some large grants and contracts, so we are rapidly expanding our team to accelerate the development and roll-out of this hugely impactful technology. 

During the next 24 months, we’ll be deploying riblet film to new aircraft for flight tests, building out new facilities, transforming our production line, and forming more new partnerships than ever before. For our employees, this means exciting growth opportunities and the ability to work alongside some of Australia’s brightest minds to solve one of the world’s hardest problems. Every employee can make an impact on the technology and applications we pursue.