Sr. Manager-R&D Innovation - The Toro Company

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of a school/employment visa at this time, regardless of expiration date.

Who Are We?     

The Toro Company is a homegrown, Minnesota-based company that has been in business since 1914. We pride ourselves on providing world class equipment to help maintain the environment that we love, while putting an emphasis on giving back to the communities that surround us. From residential lawns and gardens to venues such as St. Andrews Links and Target Field, we are a company with a global footprint and a passion for helping people beautify whatever landscape they may be in. With 100 years of operation under our belt and an average employee tenure of 15 years, come find out what makes The Toro Company the best place in the Twin Cities to build a career. 

What Will You Do?  

In order to grow and build a successful career with The Toro Company, you will be responsible for:  

• Focused on solving unmet needs for external and internal customers across the breath of TTC.

• Facilitate Voice of the Customer activities and other market and technology research required to scope opportunities and validate hypothesis.

• Partner to build relationships across business units, channel partners, and end customers.

• Research parallel industries, OEM technologies, and competitive products to bring technology & customer insights to the R&D group and TTC divisions.

• Represent the R&D group on TTC emerging tech roadmaps and contribute to divisional multi-generational product plans.

• Ownership of the CTRI R&D roadmap, utilizing as a means to organize priorities and facilitate divisional discussion. Work with department leaders to understand needs driven by emerging technology.

  • Utilization of Lean Startup methodology – hypothesis with build-measure-learn expedited feedback loop.

  • Align business case and potential solutions in the intersection of Customer Needs, Technology Feasibility, and TTC Businesses.

• Business case development – estimate Total Addressable Market (TAM), Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM), and Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM). Potential return on investment (ROI).

• TTC spokesperson for CTRI, ELT, investors, divisional emerging tech, and other key R&D areas.

• Manage the CTRI budget for resources and expenses.

JOB DIMENSIONS:

• Strong analytical skills with emphasis in electric, autonomous, smart connected, data, and AI.

• Self-starter with a bias for action

• Effective communicator with customers and across multiple levels of the organization using multiple communication methods

• Manage 3-5 direct reports

• Travel requirement: up to 25%.

What Do You Need?  

To be considered for this role, an individual should meet the following minimal requirements:  

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or related, Master’s degree in business, engineering or related discipline preferred. Minimum of ten years of relevant experience.

• Demonstrated strength in the fuzzy front end of problem solving

• Demonstrated familiarity with battery electric, autonomous, and smart connected technologies.

• Strong business and technical aptitude enabling communication, understanding, and collaboration between technical service and engineering.

• Experience in product development required.

• Strong analytical abilities to review and summarize data for presentation, direction and decision making.

What Can We Give You?     

At The Toro Company, we are always working to make sure our employees know just how valued they are. In addition to a competitive salary, an affordable and top tier medical/dental/vision plan, 401k, and many other great benefits - The Toro company offers employees at our Bloomington, MN HQ location a variety of perks, including:  

Dress for your day - We know you're mo