Vice President, Research & Development

About the role

The Vice President - Research & Development leads the R&D agenda for the Learning & Development Segment across the Writing and Baby business units. This is a change-leadership mandate: R&D represents 63% of segment SG&A headcount and is central to the segment's transformation. The role owns the R&D workstream through all NPD stage-gates from technical feasibility through commercialization and launch overseeing Quality, Chemistry, Product Engineering and Regulatory & Compliance, while partnering with Industrial Design, Packaging Engineering, Brand, FEI and IPPL/PMO throughout. Two technical priorities anchor the role: deep chemistry (ink, adhesion and formulation science) and connected-product technology. Success requires a bold business leader with the credibility to challenge expert teams, the influence to move a matrixed organization.

Responsibilities

• Lead the R&D workstream through all stage-gates for Writing and Baby; partner with IPPL/PMO on pipeline sufficiency and stage-gate governance and with Legal, Industrial Design and Packaging Engineering as peer functions.
• Translate the segment innovation plan into prioritized, resourced technical roadmaps; make clear invest, accelerate, slow or stop calls based on consumer value, P&L impact, risk and speed to market.
• Set the R&D strategy — platforms, capabilities and technologies — that strengthens technical delivery, builds competitive advantage and supports disciplined experimentation.
• Lead the segment's connected-product agenda: deliver Wi-Fi-enabled product lines and the consumer applications that drive engagement, loyalty and purchase consideration.
• Provide R&D leadership across Writing (writing instruments, labeling, adhesion and slime) and Baby — Baby Gear (car seats, strollers, travel systems) and Baby Care (bottles, pacifiers, sippy cups and tableware).
• Translate brand and category strategies into technical roadmaps, balancing near-term delivery with long-term capability building; represent R&D in segment leadership forums, executive reviews and regulatory engagements.
• Oversee Quality, Chemistry, Product Engineering and Regulatory & Compliance — ensuring consistent standards and no gaps across categories.
• Elevate the Chemistry organization (ink, adhesion and formulation science) and direct VAVE efforts to strengthen product performance, cost and material innovation.
• Assess raw material suppliers to perform at best cost, ensuring quality standards are met and supply chain competitiveness is sustained.
• Build a new technical capability in Wi-Fi-enabled products and application development, bringing in the talent, tools and partnerships the segment does not yet have.
• Ensure quality expectations are embedded in development so products meet consumer and customer expectations at launch and throughout the product life; apply design-for-manufacturing thinking to enable efficient production.
• Strongly influence sourced vendor capabilities to ensure products meet Newell standards.
• Ensure all products meet or exceed applicable safety and regulatory standards across jurisdictions (e.g., FMVSS 213, NHTSA and ASTM for juvenile products; chemical and product safety standards for writing instruments).
• Partner with Legal, Regulatory and Compliance to anticipate evolving standards, proactively manage risk and maintain robust test-lab capability for the highly regulated Baby categories.
• Align Industrial Design, Packaging Engineering, Sourcing, Brand, FEI and IPPL/PMO — without waiting for formal authority — to deliver integrated, manufacturable, consumer-right solutions on time.
• Set clear accountability with Procurement, Supply Chain, Legal and Finance to remove barriers; establish and track KPIs for innovation throughput, launch quality, compliance and R&D efficiency.
• Build an A+ R&D bench through rigorous talent assessment, succession planning, external hiring above the organization's comfort level and decisive action on underperformance.
• Lead organizational transformation — upgrading key leadership roles, restructuring for speed and efficiency — while sustaining business delivery and creating a winning agenda people choose to follow.

Skills