Staff Program Leader, Innovation Excellence

Arconic is currently in search of a Staff Program Leader, Innovation Excellence to join our Rolled Products North America Team based out of New Kensington, PA.

At Arconic, we take pride in our work and our innovative products and technologies that advance sustainable solutions for a better world. We strive to create a safe, inclusive, and collaborative workplace with competitive benefits, development opportunities and a culture that values and rewards employees on all levels of the organization.   Job Summary:

The Staff Program Leader, Innovation Excellence is responsible for supporting the management of Arconic’s Technology portfolio from ideation to commercialization and advancing our Technology strategy while exhibiting company values. This role will support the prioritization, resource management, value capture and performance monitoring of the Technology portfolio, along with intellectual property monitoring, technoeconomic assessments, portfolio lifecycle management and competitive/market assessments to promote data-driven decision-making.

In this role, you will:

• Facilitate execution of the Arconic’s Research & Development (R&D) portfolios, including ensuring continuous resource optimization, effective deliverables management, accountability on milestones & timelines, and tracking of key performance indicators.
• Maintain governance of the Technology stage-gate process across the enterprise, including updating documentations and providing refresher trainings.
• Partner with Technology teams to develop and validate the global economic model (GEM) for R&D projects, complete real-win-worth assessments, and measure and monitor R&D return on investment (ROI) profile.
• Facilitate product vitality reviews with key stakeholders in R&D, Finance, Product Technology, Commercial, Operations, and Corporate ESG.
• Lead efforts to leverage insights from advanced analytics and market intelligence to inform next-generation product development strategies, improve deliverables, enhance collaboration, and define actionable go-to-market strategy frameworks. 
• Support the integration of sustainability criteria into R&D's portfolios and implementation of a robust lifecycle assessment methodology for estimating and reporting the carbon footprint of current and future products. 
• Manage competitor IP monitoring and Emerging Technology programs. Lead efforts around competitor benchmarking and comparative technoeconomic assessments to inform Technology roadmaps. 
• Take a leadership role in scouting new technologies and establishing strategic partnerships (with startups, academia, industry consortia, customers, etc.) to derisk and accelerate technology development. 
• Engage cross-functional stakeholders to actively update the Technology roadmaps and align deliverables with Commercial and Operations 5-year plans.

You have: 

• Bachelor’s degree in science or engineering discipline
• 5+ years’ proven experience in project management and technology development in an industry environment 
• Applied knowledge of key aspects of project management including valuation, deliverables development, resource planning, cost analyses, risk assessment, and stakeholder management
• Proven ability to manage complex, multidisciplinary projects and drive cross-functional alignment.
• Familiarity with principles of finance analyses, technoeconomic assessment and product lifecycle management.
• Employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.
• This position requires access to controlled technology, as defined in the Export Administration Regulations (15 C.F.R. §730, et seq.) and/or the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Authorizations from the relevant government agency may be required to meet export control compliance requirements.

Exceptional Candidates also have: 

• Masters in Materials Science, Metallurgy, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related technical field or a MBA particularly with a focus on project management, technology management or business strategy
• Knowledge of aluminum value chain production processes (e.g., casting, extrusion, rolling, alloying) 
• Strong project management skills and proficiency with planning and visualization tools (e.g., Excel, Power BI, Planview)
• Strong technical and business acumen with the ability to bridge R&D and Commercial strategy.
• Proven ability to balance tactical execution of near-term deliverables with long-term strategic planning
• Demonstrated ability to adapt market and regulator