Material Conversion R&D Leader

About the role

The Material Conversion R&D Leader provides technical and people leadership for material-to-process conversion within Doors R&D. This role is accountable for translating material concepts into scalable, manufacturable processes for interior and exterior door systems. Success requires strong critical thinking, engineering judgment, and structured problem-solving to navigate ambiguity, evaluate trade-offs, and make sound decisions that balance performance, cost, risk, and manufacturability.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the Material Conversion R&D team, setting clear technical direction, expectations, and priorities aligned with Doors R&D.
• Build team capability by coaching and mentoring scientists and engineers in process fundamentals, system-level thinking, automation awareness, and structured problem-solving, creating a strong pipeline of technical leaders.
• Lead material conversion programs and portfolios through the team, ensuring alignment of people, resources, timelines, and deliverables to achieve program objectives.
• Own end-to-end material conversion program execution, from concept through pilot validation and manufacturing handoff.
• Establish technical direction for process architectures, equipment platforms, and automation strategies, ensuring scalability, robustness, and long-term manufacturability.
• Apply engineering judgment and critical thinking to guide teams in evaluating throughput, capacity, cycle time, yield, uptime, quality, cost, safety, and sustainability trade-offs.
• Provide senior technical leadership for manufacturing systems involving automation and mechanical equipment, including pumps, drives, gear systems, material handling, controls, utilities, and supporting infrastructure required to deliver a complete operational process.
• Partner with Business, Operations, Tooling, Automation, Controls, Maintenance, Quality, and EHS teams to ensure programs are designed for real-world manufacturing conditions, operator interaction, maintainability, and lifecycle cost.
• Lead scale-up from lab to pilot to manufacturing by guiding teams in defining process windows, operating envelopes, control strategies, start-up/shutdown conditions, and readiness criteria.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate technical and operational risks across programs related to equipment capability, process robustness, automation reliability, material variability, and plant integration.
• Guide pilot-scale and manufacturing trials, ensuring teams generate high-quality, decision-ready data that supports qualification, scale-up decisions, and long-term process control.
• Ensure material conversion processes meet safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements, embedding hazard analysis, risk assessment, and safe-by-design principles throughout development.
• Oversee development and implementation of SOPs, work instructions, and process documentation, ensuring safe operation, training effectiveness, and successful technology transfer.
• Collaborate with Quality and Operations to define critical process parameters, control plans, monitoring strategies, and response plans that ensure consistent product performance.
• Drive disciplined program execution using structured project management practices, including scope definition, milestones, stage-gates, risk reviews, and deliverables.
• Serve as a senior technical escalation point, supporting teams in resolving complex process, equipment, automation, and operational readiness challenges.
• Promote a strong safety culture and ensure compliance with Owens Corning safety, quality, and environmental standards across all team and program activities.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated depth in material conversion and manufacturing systems, with the ability to understand how materials, equipment, automation, and plant systems interact as an integrated whole.
• Strong aptitude for systems-level thinking, enabling evaluation of process behavior, variability, and constraints across pilot and manufacturing environments.
• Solid working knowledge of manufacturing fundamentals, process control concepts, and operational standards necessary to support stable, repeatable, and safe production.
• Advanced critical thinking and engineering judgment, with the ability to synthesize technical data, operational considerations, and business constraints to make sound decisions in ambiguous situations.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to challenge assumptions, assess risk, and determine practical paths forward when information is incomplete.
• Effective communication and influence skills to convey complex technical concepts clearly and align stakeholders.
• Demonstrated leadership maturity, learning agility, and a safety-first mindset, with the resilience required to operate in dynamic, high-accountability environments.

Skills

• Depth in material conversion and manufacturing systems.
• Systems-level thinking, enabling evaluation of process behavior, variability, and constraints across pilot and manufacturing environments.
• Solid working knowledge of manufacturing fundamentals, process control concepts, and operational standards.
• Advanced critical thinking and engineering judgment.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Effective communication and influence skills.
• Demonstrated leadership maturity, learning agility, and a safety-first mindset.

Benefits

• Base salary range: $124,000 to $148,420, with the potential for up to an additional x% if the applicant hired has additional related qualifications.
• Substantial benefits package including insurance (medical/dental/vision/life/disability/supplemental offerings), 401k (company contribution regardless of employee participation – plus match), paid time off that considers full professional tenure (vacation, personal floating and standard holidays), Employee Assistance Services, Stock Purchase Program – and more.

Pay

The base salary range for this position is $124,000 to $148,420, with the potential for up to an additional x% if the applicant hired has additional related qualifications.

Schedule

N/A

Application Instructions

N/A

Equal Opportunity Employer

Owens Corning is an equal opportunity employer. Except in limited circumstances such as formal apprenticeship programs, Owens Corning does not employ anyone under the age of 18.