Senior Product Scientist

Senior Product Scientist

Job Description

You’re not the person who will settle for just any role. Neither are we. Because we’re out to create Better Care for a Better World, and that takes a certain kind of person and teams who care about making a difference. Here, you’ll bring your professional expertise, talent, and drive to building and managing our portfolio of iconic, ground-breaking brands. In this role, you’ll help us deliver better care for billions of people around the world. It starts with YOU.

Working on the Front End of Innovation (FEI), the primary purpose of this position is to lead the identification and development of new products and product improvement ideas/concepts for Cottonelle dry bath tissue feeding the FEI (Front End of Innovation) Funnel and chartering of projects for our IMF Stage gate process. This role will work in conjunction with product development team members, marketing Strategy & Innovation, marketing research Insights & Analytics, and other cross-functional teams.

The Senior Scientist reports to a Senior Research & Development Manager and receives work direction from the Research Technical Leader, as well as the Research & Development Manager, though this role is largely self-directed. This role will give work direction, coaching, and mentoring to 3-5 indirect team members.

In this role, you will:

• Lead the R&D Innovation Process to identify and develop new products and existing product enhancement opportunities for the Cottonelle dry bath tissue business.
• Manage Front End of Innovation (FEI) funnel projects to meet deadlines, success criteria and budgets.
• Complete one-page documents on funnel ideas and present them to a steering team for endorsement.
• Incorporate benefit hierarchy, brand foundational tools, competitive insights and category/consumer insights into innovation funnel idea development.
• Ensure that funnel ideas and development work is documented, stored, accessible and communicated.
• Support customer facing initiatives to optimize business results.
• Protect and defend K-C proprietary product and technology through the appropriate use of patents and trade secrets.
• Share, adopt, and adapt concepts, innovation, and product solutions from the globe/regional partners.
• Ensure all work complies with Corporate Safety, Regulatory, Product Safety, and Quality requirements. 
• Interface effectively with the other work stream teams to ensure business success.
• Coach and mentor junior scientists

Influence:

• Works closely with the Project Lead, Marketing, Supply Chain, and I&A teams, among others, to define and validate the product design that achieves project goals.
• Coach and mentor junior scientists
• Ability to influence without authority required.

About Us

Huggies®. Kleenex®. Cottonelle®. Scott®. Kotex®. Poise®. Depend®. Kimberly-Clark Professional®. You already know our legendary brands—and so does the rest of the world. In fact, millions of people use Kimberly-Clark products every day. We know these amazing Kimberly-Clark products wouldn’t exist without talented professionals, like you.

At Kimberly-Clark, you’ll be part of the best team committed to driving innovation, growth and impact. We’re founded on more than 150 years of market leadership, and we’re always looking for new and better ways to perform – so there’s your open door of opportunity. It’s all here for you at Kimberly-Clark.

Led by Purpose. Driven by You.

About You

You perform at the highest level possible, and you appreciate a performance culture fueled by authentic caring.  You want to be part of a company actively dedicated to sustainability, inclusion, wellbeing, and career development.

You love what you do, especially when the work you do makes a difference. At Kimberly-Clark, we’re constantly exploring new ideas on how, when, and where we can best achieve results. When you join our team, you’ll experience Flex That Works: flexible (hybrid) work arrangements that empower you to have purposeful time in the office and partner with your leader to make flexibility work for both you and the business.

In one of our professional roles, you’ll focus on winning with consumers and the market, while putting safety, mutual respect, and human dignity at the center.

To succeed in this role, you will need the following qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college/university
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in product development, technology development, executing consumer and/or technical/scientific studies
• Strong communication skills an