Sr. Director, Research and Innovation (R&I)

Innovation & Technology Strategy

Define the long-term vision for research and development (R&D) and product innovation. Align innovation roadmaps with overarching business goals, market trends, customer needs, emerging technologies, and sustainability initiatives.

Oversee the execution of R&D strategies, ensuring alignment with industry trends and best practices.

Apply emerging technologies selectively to solve validated customer and business problems, ensuring alignment with product strategy and measurable business outcomes. Manage the end-to-end R&D, innovation, and emerging products portfolio (front-end ideation, scale-up, and commercialization), including prioritization, resource allocation, and disciplined decisions to advance, pivot, or stop work based on data and business value.

Ensure new products and processes are designed for North American scalability, cost-effectiveness, and manufacturability. Oversee the transition from benchtop formulation/lab prototypes or prototyping into full-scale, cost-effective industrial operations.

Research Execution & Process Excellence

Identify and resolve technical risks early in the development lifecycle, including recommending termination or pivoting of non-viable concepts based on feasibility, cost, and performance criteria.

Accelerate time-to-market using design thinking, experimentation, and rapid learning cycles.

Oversee intellectual property (IP) strategy and growth, including invention disclosures and patent development, and protect company assets.

Manage and oversee New Product Introduction (NPI) and Engineer-to-Order (ETO) processes ensuring all scalable designs meet cost, quality, safety, and compliance.

Establish and maintain innovation processes and governance that support disciplined technical execution, speed, quality, and learning.

Manage the end-to-end innovation portfolio using Stage-Gate or Agile methodologies to optimize resourcing, mitigate risk, and control R&D budgets. Responsible for technical readiness, validation, and delivery of engineering outputs required to successfully pass each stage-gate.

Oversee research budgets, determine early-stage investment priorities, and drive continuous improvement toward measurable ROI.

Leadership & Collaboration

Provide visionary leadership for R&D/engineering strategy development.

Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify and prioritize the R&D initiatives that drive operational efficiency.

Partner closely with Product Management, with clear accountability that Product Management defines ‘what’ and ‘why,’ while R&I defines ‘how’ and ensures technical feasibility and execution quality. Partner closely with Marketing, Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, and Commercial teams to ensure innovation pipelines meet customer requirements and regulatory/compliance standards.

Facilitate co-creation opportunities with internal and external customers to enhance product offerings and market competitiveness. Lead and mentor teams of researchers, product developers, and process engineers.

Represent the company at external technical forums, industry events, and customer meetings as needed.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Directly lead and develop a team of R&I engineers and technical specialists, providing both people leadership and strong hands-on technical direction.

Balance team leadership responsibilities with active involvement in system architecture, design reviews, and technical problem-solving.

Carry out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with organizational policies, including hiring, development, performance management, and team effectiveness.