Senior Materials Expert (R&D/Engineering)

Senior Materials Engineer - R&D / Engineering Amphenol Industrial Operations Reports to: Technical Director Job Description Summary: The Senior Materials Expert provides technical leadership and specialized expertise in metallic and polymeric materials to support product design optimization, innovation, and next-generation product development. This role collaborates closely with engineering, simulation, testing, sourcing, and manufacturing teams to identify, evaluate, qualify, and implement materials that enhance product performance, reliability, manufacturability, and cost competitiveness. Serving as a key resource for material selection, failure analysis, and technology roadmap development, the Senior Materials Expert helps drive material innovation across the organization. This hybrid position requires a minimum of 25% travel, including visits to Endicott, NY, Binghamton University, and China. Essential Duties & Responsibilities: Material Research & Development Investigate, evaluate, and recommend metallic and polymeric materials, including copper alloys, stainless steels, aluminum alloys, engineering thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and rubber materials, along with coatings and surface treatments. Identify materials that improve electrical, thermal, mechanical, and environmental performance of existing products. Support development of next‑generation connector technologies through material innovation aligned with long‑term R&D roadmaps. Stay current with emerging materials, processing technologies, and industry trends relevant to electrical interconnect systems. Material Evaluation & Selection Evaluate and compare candidate materials by analyzing electrical conductivity, thermal performance, mechanical strength, fatigue, wear, corrosion resistance, flammability, and environmental durability. Assess manufacturability including compatibility with stamping, injection molding, machining, plating, and assembly processes. Evaluate cost, supplier capability, availability, and supply‑chain risk. Document material selection rationale, risks, and mitigation strategies to support design reviews, DFMEA, qualification, and customer requirements. Engineering & Simulation Collaboration Work closely with analysis and simulation engineers (structural, thermal, mold flow) to ensure accurate material properties and assumptions are used in simulation models. Support correlation between material data, simulation predictions, and physical test results to improve design confidence. Support material‑related failure analysis and simulation‑driven design optimization. Testing, Validation & Qualification Define material test plans and acceptance criteria to support product validation and qualification. • Support root cause analysis of test failures and field issues related to material behavior. Collaborate with internal and external test laboratories to evaluate material performance under mechanical, thermal, electrical, and environmental conditions including working closely with Binghamton University laboratories for advanced material and product testing and characterization. Review material specifications, test reports, qualification documentation, and engineering standards. Manufacturing, Sourcing & Supplier Support Partner with manufacturing teams to ensure robust and repeatable material and process implementation. Support sourcing teams in evaluating new suppliers, qualifying alternate materials, and managing material changes. Support ECNs, cost‑reduction initiatives, and global product transfers involving material or process changes. Material Database & Digital Engineering Enablement Create and maintain a centralized engineering materials database for metals, plastics, elastomers, coatings, and surface treatments. Ensure material data includes validated properties, processing guidelines, test results, qualifications, and application notes. Standardize material data to support design, simulation, testing, sourcing, and manufacturing team…