Textile Development Professional - Automotive Airbag

POSITION TITLE 

Textile Development Professional - Automotive Airbag   

POSITION OVERVIEW 

Milliken Automotive Airbag develops and manufactures high-performance airbag fabrics and solutions for the global automotive market, helping protect vehicle occupants through advanced safety technologies. As automotive safety requirements continue to evolve, our business is focused on delivering innovative, high-quality products that meet the industry's rigorous performance standards while supporting the next generation of vehicle safety systems. 

Innovation is a key driver of our growth strategy. By combining deep technical expertise with strong customer partnerships and market-focused business development, we continue to advance airbag fabric technologies that enhance vehicle safety, reliability, and performance. Our products support a wide range of airbag applications, including driver, passenger, side-impact, curtain, knee, and specialty restraint systems. 

We are seeking an individual with unique talents and a passion for innovation to help advance our technical and business development initiatives. This position is located in LaGrange, GA, and reports to the Development Manager. 

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Lead the development, engineering, and commercialization of woven fabric products, including both One-Piece Woven (OPW) and flat-woven constructions, across coated and uncoated applications.  

• Develop and optimize fabric designs by evaluating yarn selection, weave construction, fabric architecture, finishing, coating, and processing parameters to meet customer, performance, quality, and manufacturing requirements.  

• Serve as the technical fabric expert throughout the product-development lifecycle, supporting products from initial concept and prototyping through manufacturing scale-up and commercialization.  

• Partner with Manufacturing and Quality to establish and optimize weaving, finishing, coating, and other fabric-processing parameters, ensuring new products are manufacturable, scalable, and capable of consistently meeting specifications.  

• Design and coordinate development trials, prototypes, testing, and sample production, using DOE, statistical analysis, FMEA, root-cause analysis, and other structured problem-solving tools to guide development decisions.  

• Troubleshoot fabric, process, quality, and product-performance issues, identify root causes, implement sustainable corrective actions, and drive improvements in quality, yield, process capability, efficiency, and cost.  

• Partner with customers and internal commercial teams to translate application and performance requirements into fabric constructions and technical specifications, while providing technical support for customer trials, concerns, and product qualification activities.  

• Maintain appropriate technical documentation and product-development records, support PPAPs and customer qualification requirements, and collaborate cross-functionally with Manufacturing, Quality, Product Development, and Commercial teams to ensure successful product launches and continuous improvement. 

QUALIFICATIONS - REQUIRED 

• Bachelor’s degree in Textile Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline, with 5+ years of experience in manufacturing, process improvement, or product development; a graduate degree may be considered in lieu of some experience

• Teamwork and ability to interact with individuals at all levels 

• Excellent organization and time management skills 

QUALIFICATIONS – TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE  

• Experience with woven textile/fabric engineering and development

• Working knowledge of both One-Piece Woven (OPW) and flat-woven fabric constructions strongly preferred

• Experience with coated and uncoated technical fabrics, including the relationship between fabric construction, finishing/coating processes, and end-use performance  

• Knowledge of weaving processes, yarn/fiber properties, textile testing, fabric specifications, and manufacturing scale-up

• Experience in automotive textiles, airbags, technical textiles, or another performance-fabric environment preferred 

QUALIFICATIONS – PREFERRED 

• Automotive background/experience  

• Engineering Development and Project Management experience is preferred

• Experience with or working knowledge of AutoCAD, SAP, Minitab and/or JMP statistical software, Microsoft Office Suite, NedGraphics, Jacquard design software (or equivalent), and laser cutting software

The successful candidate will have strengths in the following: 

• Ability to collaborate both internally and externally, to shape ideas/concepts and communicate them successfully to build a robust development portfolio 

• Demonstrate a high level of vision and out of the box thinking to provide innovative customer solutions 

• Display high energy and be fully committed to the role, its opportunities and challenges 

• Willingness to travel when necessary 

• Ability to collaborate both internally and externally, to shape ideas/concepts and communicate them successfully to build a robust development portfolio 

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