Senior R&D Leader

At Dow, we believe in putting people first and we’re passionate about delivering integrity, respect and safety to our customers, our employees and the planet.  

Our people are at the heart of our solutions. They reflect the communities we live in and the world where we do business. Their diversity is our strength. We’re a community of relentless problem solvers that offers the daily opportunity to contribute with your perspective, transform industries and shape the future. Our purpose is simple - to deliver a sustainable future for the world through science and collaboration. If you’re looking for a challenge and meaningful role, you’re in the right place. 

About this role

Wire & Cable group, part of the Packaging Specialty Plastics & Hydrocarbons (PSP&H) envelope, has an exciting opportunity for a Senior R&D Leader to serve as a leader for the W&C pilot plant in Bristol, PA and also supervise the R&D lab operation in Collegeville, PA. The position is primarily based out of Bristol, PA and the leader will be expected to go to Collegeville once or twice a week.

In this role, you will lead a team of technologists and scientists of about 15 with a wide variety of expertise. You will need to have knowledge of the business operations from an R&D/scale up in pilot plant perspective. You will need to fully understand these business operations and how teams work together to achieve operational objectives. You should be able to guide and persuade others, both internally and externally, to adopt a different point of view. This position requires a background in engineering and exposure/experience to manufacturing is strongly desired. The candidate will have extensive experience with defining, implementing and maintaining safety initiatives and protocols.

It is your responsibility to be able to identify technical and operational problems and recognize and understand broader impacts across multiple teams within your discipline or functional area. You will set priorities and allocate resources to align with business objectives and plans of execution. Your work is guided by policies and departmental plan and your performance impacts your team’s ability to achieve service, quality, and timeliness of objectives.

Responsibilities – Duties, projects, tasks, and activities you would be responsible for in this role

• Provides supervision and leadership to a group of about 15 Research employees, split between our pilot plant in Bristol, PA and our R&D lab in Collegeville PA.
• Manages day-to-day supervision of direct reports and acts accountable for performance management, team building, reward and recognition, employee development and engagement
• Identifies talent, accountable for attraction and retention within the department, and creates a high performing team focused on innovation and delivery against research goals
• Develops, prioritizes, and manages research project portfolio and technology platforms within area of accountability in support of innovation targets for the business and organization
• Networks and collaborates with other business and technical groups within Dow, other functions, and external resources (universities, customers) to support existing products/projects and to generate and exploit new ideas and opportunities
• Support the development and implementation of organizational strategy and identifies and resolves capability gaps within the group.
• Manage and drive intellectual property
• Promote pilot plant and lab safety best practices, standards, and behaviors in collaboration with safety functional leaders and safety leadership is of utmost importance

Qualifications

• A minimum of a Bachelor Degree in Engineering, or related field required.
• 8+ years of relevant industry experience is required
• Prior people leadership experience is required
• A minimum requirement for this U.S. based position is the ability to work legally in the United States. No visa sponsorship/support is available for this position, including for any type of U.S. permanent residency (green card) process.

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Domestic relocation assistance is available for this role and may be provided based on eligibility.

Benefits – What Dow offers you 

We invest in you. 
 

Dow invests in total rewards programs to help you manage all aspects of you: your pay, your health, your life, your future, and your career. You bring your background, talent, and perspective to work every day. Dow rewards that commitment by investing in your total wellbeing