Global R&D Director High Performance Flooring & Functional Powder

The Global R&D Director for High Performance Flooring and Functional Powder Coatings is a member of the Global Protective & Marine R&D technology leadership team and is responsible for leading the Flooring and Powder Functional R&D teams in Minneapolis MN, East Hartford CT, Bolton UK, Thouars France, and Shanghai China.

The Global Technical Director will be responsible for leading the company's technical strategies, research, and development activities focused on protective powder and high-performance floor coatings. This role involves overseeing global product development, formulation, scale-ups, and connectivity between global labs to ensure the delivery of innovative, high-performance coating solutions. The director will collaborate with cross-functional teams, including R&D, marketing, manufacturing, and sales, to drive the growth of the product portfolio and meet the demands of key global markets for Protective and Marine.

Job duties include contact with other employees and access confidential and proprietary information and/or other items of value, and such access may be supervised or unsupervised. The Company therefore has determined that a review of criminal history is necessary to protect the business and its operations and reputation and is necessary to protect the safety of the Company's staff, employees, and business relationships.

1. Technical Leadership:

• Lead and manage a global team of technical experts, ensuring effective collaboration and the development of cutting-edge solutions in functional powder and floor coatings.
• Establish and drive the technical vision and strategy for functional and flooring coatings, focusing on performance, market needs, technology gaps, innovation, and sustainability.
• Oversee product development and formulation of protective and floor coatings to meet industry standards, customer requirements, and regulatory compliance.

2. Research and Development:

• Direct R&D efforts for new coating technologies, focusing on enhancing performance properties, the Global Core, and regional market needs.
• Collaborate with external research institutions, universities, and industry groups to stay abreast of technological advancements.
• Work with marketing teams and regional leadership, to develop a robust pipeline for new products and continuously evaluate existing products to identify areas for improvement.
• Drives and captures intellectual property developments

3. Global Market Expansion:

• Work closely with the sales, marketing, and business development teams to align technical strategies with market needs and global trends.
• Provide technical expertise to support global market expansion efforts, customizing products for regional requirements.
• Support the development of technical marketing collateral and training materials for internal teams and customers.

4. Customer and Stakeholder Engagement:

• Act as the primary technical liaison with key customers, ensuring their needs are met and offering innovative solutions to their coating challenges.
• Provide technical consultation and support to clients and distributors, particularly on complex or high-value projects.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders, including suppliers, customers, regulatory bodies, and industry experts.

5. Quality and Compliance:

• Ensure all products comply with relevant industry standards, environmental regulations, and safety protocols.
• Oversee the implementation of best practices in testing, quality assurance, and quality control processes across global manufacturing facilities.
• Monitor and drive the continuous improvement of product quality and manufacturing efficiency.

6. Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Collaborate with global manufacturing and operations teams to streamline production processes, reduce costs, and improve product quality.
• Work closely with sales and marketing teams to deliver technical support for product launches and ongoing customer satisfaction.
• Ensure alignment of technical strategies with business objectives and global expansion initiatives.
  
  
  
  • Leads, develops and shapes a market and customer centric workplace culture for innovative solutions, execution excellence and continuous improvement.
  
  

7. Talent Management

• Holds the technical management teams accountable for implementing and achieving technology, product development, and service-related goals and objectives.
• Leads the integrated talent management activities to attract, develop, provide performance feedback and retain employees and to ensure optimum level of workforce engagement
• Completes, delivers and oversees individual performance management reviews, succession planning, and establishes employee professional development goals to support future business needs

1. Oversees Internal and External Stakeholder Relationships within a Matrix Structure:
   
   
   
   • Enables and influences internal/external connectivity to drive strategic initiatives and projects.
   • Coordinates technical activities in conjunction with global technical leaders to ensure product development and technical transfer to and from the regions in alignment with the global strategic product plans.
   • Manages and deploys resources across regions and/or cross business or functional teams to efficiently and effectively deliver all product and technology goals and services.
   
   

• Partners with Regional Procurement to support raw material selection and cost saving projects for the region.

1. Safety/Hygiene

• Promotes a safe work environment by driving safety practices, safe equipment utilization, cleanliness standards, and maintenance in the laboratories.
• Promotes and shares safety best practices across all labs.

1. FORMAL EDUCATION:
   
   
   
   1. Required:
   
   

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Math field.
  
  b. Preferred
• Master's Degree in Chemistry

1. KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE:

Required:

• Minimum 15 years industry experience or equivalent in the development of coatings, plastics, or related products and/or polymer development / materials science
• Direct leadership of teams at multiple sites for >5 years

Preferred:

• Strong strategic perspective and ability to deal with complex requirements and set priorities
• Must be able to communicate in a clear, concise professional manner internally and externally to identify and build productive collaborations and partnerships.
• Knowledge of related Regional markets, product stewardship, and regulatory requirements
• Demonstrated intellectual property management, including contracts and patents
• Demonstrated ability to work within major cross-functional and global programs/groups
• Demonstrated ability to drive open innovation and attract industry and academic experts, ability to set up and lead partnerships and joint developments
• Experience in project management tools, i.e., Design for Six Sigma / statistical expertise desired

Up to 30% Travel