QA Laboratory Engineer (Polymers) (PA 1189) - Kariega at Volkswagen Group South Africa

• As part of the Volkswagen Quality Assurance team, the successful candidate will take up the role of a Quality Assurance Laboratory Engineer in the Polymer, Rubber and Textile fields to ensure that testing, analysis and investigation of all plastic, rubber and textile components used in the manufacture of our vehicles, conform to Konzern specifications and standards.

Job Description and Responsibilities    

• Testing and evaluating plastic components to establish conformance to specification requirements.
• Evaluate and approve all material characteristics of polymer components for First Sample approvals and advise on optimizations when required.
• Analyzing failures and establishing root causes of component material failures from all stages of the vehicle manufacturing process.
• Analyzing and establishing root cause of component material failures from vehicles in the Field. 
• Advise on all matters regarding polymer material selection, specifications and testing and test methods, In-Plant, at Suppliers and also at third party test laboratories.
• Drawing up of Works Instructions and Process Instructions, where applicable, ie testing procedures

Education and Experience    

• BSc Degree or ND in the field of Polymer Technology
• 2 years’ experience and knowledge of Motor Vehicle Plastic component testing and Injection Moulding processes. 
• 2 years working experience in a materials testing laboratory.

Skills, Attributes & Other requirements    
ESSTENTIAL:

• Have knowledge of spectrophotometry and capable of interpreting obtained results.
• Have experience in testing the physical properties of polymers (impact testing, flexural – and tensile strength testing), also Analysis testing (FTIR, DSC, GC and density)
• Have proven analytical and problem solving skills.
• Have good report writing and presentation skills.
• Be computer literate in MS Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word).
• Have the ability to work independently without supervision.
• Knowledge of German language would be advantageous.
• Be able to work under pressure