The Requirements

To meet the basic qualifications for this role, you will be legally authorized to work permanently in the United States for any employer without requiring a Visa transfer of Visa sponsorship. To be a good fit for the Development Technician role in our Battery Applications Lab, you should also have:

• One of the following:
  • A bachelor's or associate's degree in a scientific, engineering, or mathematical discipline (preferred), or
  • Experience in laboratory processes and procedures, preferably related to chemicals, plastics, or battery applications Quick question for you - click here or
  • An equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• 1 to 2 years of lab experience, preferably in an analytical or R&D environment preferred.
• Experience with data collection and data analysis is a strong plus.
• Fundamental math and analytical skills required.
• Basic computer skills (i.e. spreadsheets, word processing), management and organization of lab data. 
• Strong MS Excel skills.
• Familiarity with lab equipment, including chemical handling procedures, and attention to detail are important
• The ability to understand and comply with environmental, health, and safety (EHS) requirements and best practices.
• The ability to physically wear and utilize personal protective equipment including, but not limited to, gloves, coveralls, hard hats, safety glasses, and goggles.
• The ability to communicate effectively with team members and other groups within the organization.

Just as important as your experience and skills will be the following characteristics and competencies:

• Initiative and a proactive approach.
• The ability to understand the questions being asked in experiments and suggest ways of answering them.
• Self-motivation and the ability to achieve goals independently as well as to contribute effectively to teams.
• A strong teamwork orientation.
• Strong organizational skills, including the ability to manage multiple activities and priorities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Willing/able to take instructions and yield quality results.

Pictured: Celgard develops and manufactures microporous membranes used in a wide variety of batteries.

The Role

Reporting to the Technical Manager, you will join the Applications Team located in Concord, NC. The team includes an Engineer and a other Development Technicians. This team focuses on research, or emerging technologies, and collaborates with a team to predict and understand our product in Customer's applications.

The Battery Lab Development Technician is responsible for Lithium ion cell fabrication and testing for the evaluation of Celgard products and competitive membranes.
 
The work involves making Lithium-ion cells of different design namely cylindrical, prismatic, pouch, and coin cell designs, operating the cycler machines for battery testing, conducting abuse tolerance tests for Li-ion cells such as internal and external short circuit tests, overcharge tests and several other UL safety standard tests.
 
The incumbent will assist in evaluating separator through battery testing in order to provide the required support for R&D, customers, and sales & marketing. Also the technician will be involved in cell disassembly and separator analysis to support internal projects. Must keep all Celgard information CONFIDENTIAL.
 
Note: this description is intended to provide a general overview of the position and is not an exhaustive listing of duties and responsibilities.

Pictured: SEM surface photomicrograph of a Celgard monolayer polypropylene (PP) battery separator. Celgard is the leading supplier of monolayer PP separator membranes to the disposable (primary) lithium battery market. Monolayer PP separators are also well suited for electric drive vehicle (EDV) applications because they offer increased rate capabilities and are stable across a wide thermal range.

Why Celgard

Professional development -- this is a small team, so you will have opportunities to expand your skills and experience in a variety of activities. You will have frequent opportunities to learn from experts on the team.  We are looking to be the best in class at what we do. We can only do that together by promoting collaboration and idea sharing within the team and cross-functionally.

Intriguing challenges -- you'll learn how our core technologies and products work, but the team's focus is on pushing the boundaries. We are constantly taking on and mastering new challenges. In contrast to many blown film production environments, ours is almost like a clean room.

Career options -- this role will enable you to develop valuable knowledge on both the scientific/technical side and the practical application side. You can also grow your career within the position. We have level I, II, and III Development Technicians. Eventually you might also decide pursue advancement into another role within Celgard.

Strong growth environment -- Celgard and our parent company, Polypore International, Inc., continue to grow. For example, Celgard's facility in Concord is new and state-of-the-art. Our product line is used in a diverse number of applications in robust markets, including laptops, cell phones, digital cameras, medical devices, and various military applications. 

Green is the present and future -- at Celgard we are highly cognizant of corporate citizenship. We not only develop and manufacture products for the green energy sector, but we also practice environmental responsibility, as demonstrated in the video, above. In fact, we recycle more than 99% of our waste materials.

Competitive compensation -- in addition to a competitive salary and discretionary bonus incentive, we offer a strong and comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, a 401k plan and more.

Keys to Success

To excel in this role you will hold yourself to high standards and bring a strong work ethic. By that we don't necessarily mean long hours, but rather a sense of ownership to understand the experimental question -- including pushing back when you need more information -- and the initiative to gather a little extra data or run a couple of extra tests. We'll provide you with clear expectations and direct and honest feedback. In return we'll look to you to remain open to learning on an ongoing basis.

Your technical knowledge will be essential, but your interpersonal skills also will be important. While this is largely an individual contributor role, in order to achieve your goals you will need to interact effectively with people in different areas. In addition, in order to be an outstanding Development Technician, you will:

• Bring a sense of urgency and the ability to balance thoroughness with the time constraints imposed by rapidly evolving markets.
• Pay close attention to detail and also grasp the bigger picture and how the details fit into it.
• Maintain constant quality awareness.
• Manage multiple activities effectively, and remain flexible and adaptable as priorities change.
• Keep a constant eye out for ways to improve processes to enhance quality, efficiency, and cost control.

About Celgard

Celgard is a global leader in the development and production of specialty microporous membranes, and is one of the largest suppliers to the lithium battery industry. Celgard battery separators are in batteries for personal electronic devices such as notebook computers, mobile telephones, digital cameras, and power tools and are emerging in applications including electric drive vehicles (EDVs) and reserve power and electricity grid management systems.

With company headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, and battery separator manufacturing facilities in the United States, Korea, and China, we are ideally positioned to serve the just-in-time needs of a global market.

Celgard is part of Polypore International, Inc., a global high technology filtration company specializing in microporous membranes. Polypore's flat sheet and hollow fiber membranes are used in specialized applications that require the removal or separation of various materials from liquids, primarily in the ultrafiltration and microfiltration markets. Also based in Charlotte, NC, Polypore International, Inc. is a market leader whose 4 core companies manufacture, market, and service products through 14 manufacturing sites and 14 sales and service locations throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, with sales relatively balanced across these regions.

Pictured: our Charlotte facility and headquarters is certified to the ISO/TS 16949 Quality Management System, an international standard with a set of strict automotive industry-specific requirements above and beyond other recognized systems such as ISO 9001:2008.