Product Development Placement Student - 12 month FTC

At Eakin Healthcare we put our patient at the heart of everything we do.

Fifty years ago, it all started with one man’s mission: pharmacist, Tom George Eakin. He saw his patients struggling with leaking urostomy pouches and decided enough was enough. He got to work and formulated what would become the game-changing, eakin Cohesive® seal.

Fast forward to today, and we’re still keeping it in the family. We’ve grown a lot since then, both organically and through acquisitions. We now have a team of over 700 colleagues across three manufacturing sites and 12 sales and distribution centres. We’re making a difference in three therapeutic areas:

• Ostomy
• Respiratory
• Surgical

We’re proud to export our innovative products to over 60 countries through a network of 40 distributors plus our own offices in Japan, The Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium and Luxemburg.

We’re good at what we do – come and join us!

*Please note that in order to be eligible to complete a 12 Month Industrial Placement commencing June 2025, you must be in your penultimate year of study unless enrolled in an integrated master's program. 

ABOUT THE ROLE

Eakin R&D is now recruiting for a student placement in the Design team. This role will report to the Design Manager and is an exciting opportunity to join a growing R&D team. Crucially, this role will be involved all aspects of product design and development throughout the NPD process leading to development of both new products and product improvements for Eakin Healthcare. The duration of the placement is for one year.

KEY ACTIVITIES            

The role will depend on the successful candidate’s skill set, but they will contribute to the development of new products, primarily in ostomy. This may vary from early market conceptualisation to design verification and validation activities.

The following activities are typical of what the successful candidates may experience.

• Contribute as a team member to the design and development of new devices, from early stage product concepts to production ready product, in line with Eakin’s development strategy, Quality system and New Product Development process.
• Contribute as a team member to allocated work-streams within development projects, to meet project targets and ensure products meet user and market requirements.
• Provide input to technical reports and design documentation for internal and external users to review ensuring that the content is accurate and informed.
• Provide engineering and process knowledge to input to activities and business decision making within speciality area.
• Carry out diligent laboratory testing as directed, including creation of test protocols, designing and procuring test apparatus, analysis of results and report writing.
• Student tasks will be allocated by your Line Manager and will contribute to the Deliverables of each project to which you are assigned.

Other

• To adhere to the company’s Equal Opportunities policy and Dignity at work policy in all activities and to actively promote equality of opportunity wherever possible.
• To be responsible for your own health and safety and that of your colleagues, in accordance with the company’s’ Health and Safety policy.
• To adhere to the company’s Quality policy and Environmental policy.
• To undertake other duties as may be reasonably required.

KEY SKILLS

Essential

• Must be working towards a Degree level Technical Discipline, preferably in a Design/Technical /Engineering related subject.
• Experience of using a 3D parametric CAD system such as Solidworks.
• Be able to work in a multi-functional, multi-disciplinary team and to build relationships with peers.
• Will be comfortable with both the practical and theoretical aspects of product development.
• Will have an ability to manage own time in a fast-paced environment and on multiple projects at one time.
• Strong communication, interpersonal and presentation skills.
• The successful candidate will have a ‘can do’ attitude and be able to work on their own initiative.

Desirable

• Experience in using Photoshop/Illustrator, sketching and 3D rendering to visualise concept designs.
• Experimental diligence and the ability to collect, analyse and interpret data.
• Working knowledge of rapid prototyping techniques and processes.
• Knowledge of high-volume manufacturing processes.

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

Internal

• Working within the R&D team on the tasks allocated to support projects.
• Working alongside Manufacturing to understand manufacturing implications of technical decisions.
• Working alongside the Commercial team(s) to understand the commercial implications of technical decisions.
• Working alongside Quality to ensure all documentation is of an appropriate and consistent standard.

External

• Suppliers
• Test houses
• Universities

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Full clean UK driving licence required with access to a vehicle
• Travel Requirements: Possible UK travel to support projects. 

COMPETENCIES

Customer Focus

Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.

Manages Complexity

Making sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.

Action Oriented

Taking on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.

Collaborates

Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.

Communicates Effectively

Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.

Self-Development

Actively seeking new ways to grow and be challenged using both formal and informal development channels.

Nimble Learning

Actively learning through experimentation when tackling new problems, using both successes and failures as learning fodder.

Being Resilient

Rebounding from setbacks and adversity when facing difficult situations.