Director, R&D Engineering, New Product Development

Are you interested in driving the design and launch of cutting edge, innovative devices? Do you thrive on managing complex design initiatives, solving intricate problems and defining excellence in new product development? Are you a visionary leader with the ability to motivate teams to push beyond their perceived limits? If you answered yes, yes, yes, yes, then we'd love to discuss our Director, R&D Engineering, New Product Development role with you!
A Snapshot Of What You'll Do:

The Research and Development Director is responsible for the design, engineering, testing and maintenance of all Anton Paar QuantaTec analytical lab instrumentation products. The R&D Director is responsible for:

• Enabling the development of new instrument concepts and improving current technology
• Overseeing all instrument project timelines and ensuring adherence with deliverables
• Setting the standard of quality of work regarding requirements engineering, source code, architecture, testing, product robustness, aesthetics and ease of use
• Actively leading by setting priorities, expectations and fully advancing the team through hiring, training and mentoring

The Impact You'll Make:

The R&D Director is a thoughtful and strategic leader who empowers a team with multiple projects on defined timelines, and supports innovation and creativity to design and refine products. Job duties include:

• Ensuring every staff member receives the appropriate mentoring and development needed to be successful by conducting regularly scheduled meetings and providing enriching guidance and feedback.
• Managing the engineering team's workload capacity and rebalancing as necessary to meet deadlines; direct oversight of the Software/Firmware Engineering Manager, Mechanical Engineering and Project Management Manager, and Electrical Engineering Leader.
• Managing the software development process and ensuring that the team utilizes the tools necessary to timely and efficiently advance projects with the highest level of quality
• Creating, maintaining, refining and enforcing processes and procedures that guide the Product Development Process to support company objectives worldwide
• Working with the Sr. Management team to ensure project brief inputs are sufficiently detailed for approval
• Providing oversight of all project timelines with dated phase gates to ensure progress is on or ahead of schedule through organized meetings and resource coordination
• Collaborating with other departments to ensure department output adequately supports their needs and requirements
• Preparing proposals and creating reports such as trend analysis and benchmarks, exhibiting an understand basic statistical techniques
• Tracking and monitoring all department metrics and goals set yearly as part of the ISO Management Review process
• Working closely with leadership to ensure department goals, projects and customer support is well aligned with the company's sales
• Protecting and maintaining intellectual property on behalf of the organization
• Following company policies, procedures and safety regulations
• The position essentially requires up to 10% overnight travel domestically and internationally
• All other duties as assigned

Education and Experience

The R&D Director typically requires a combination of leadership and project management experience, proven ability to meet or exceed development targets, and manage fiscal and budgetary requirements. This role requires the following:

• BS in Engineering or related field
• Minimum of 10 years' experience in project development of laboratory or process instruments
• Minimum of 5 years managing a team
• Experience in Project Management
• Strong analytical skills
• Demonstrated efficient work methods and ability to handle multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment
• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with both internal business functions and external suppliers
• Skilled in logistics, communications and managing in a team environment
• Must be familiar with manufacturing and material and supply chain management.
• Must have the ability to prepare proposals and create reports such as trend analysis and benchmarks, and understand basic statistical techniques.

Preferred skills include:

• MS in Engineering or related field
• Knowledge of Anton Paar development framework, Scrum/XP
• Project Management certification
• Experience designing and/or managing projects for electromechanical devices

Competencies

The Research & Development Director uses a variety of technical skills, industry knowledge and soft skills including:

• Commitment & Initiative:
  • Leads according to the principles, vision and values of the organization
  • Shows strong support and enthusiasm in their work assignments
  • Launches projects timely, balances workloads and distributes work efficiently
• Communication:
  • Provides clear instruction to employees, explains how product or process works, and is available to answer any questions that may arise
  • Ability to get a point across, create a compelling presentation and get buy-in for ideas
  • Inspires others to achieve better results and demonstrate emotional intelligence
• Collaboration and Teambuilding
  • Works well with others on internal and external teams through interpersonal skills
  • Creates cross-functional teams that utilize the highest skill levels and provide developmental opportunities
  • Build rapport with other departments, build alliances and negotiates effectively
• Critical Thinking & Problem Solving:
  • Approaches problem solving logically, researches options, avoids biases and focuses on meaningful data to draw the right conclusions even under pressure
  • Effectively identifies challenging or complex issues, evaluates options, and resolves in the best interest of the organization
  • Performs analysis to assess the needs of the department and creates a plan to meet the requirements
• Department Accountability & Capacity:
  • Takes responsibility for all work activities and personal actions, follows through on commitments, and acknowledges and learns from mistakes
  • Can fully explain job duties and projects for all direct staff and redistributes work effectively
  • Can fully explain the scope, utilization, efficiency and value-added tasks of each employee
• Employee Management & Development:
  • Demonstrates the ability to manage, lead and enable others
  • Helps employees progress in their career by mentoring on a consistent basis
  • Continuously clarifies responsibilities, priorities and expectations that align with company goals
• Goal Development and Execution:
  • Identifies measurable opportunities for department and staff to improve
  • Creates opportunities to stretch staff out of their comfort zone
  • Puts into effect of a plan, order, or course of action with a certain degree of immediacy or urgency and does not hesitate or delay moving forward
• Integrity & Financial Acumen:
  • Behaves honorably and ethically, is truthful and can be trusted
  • Understands and monitors the financial aspects including wages, allocations and expenses within area of responsibility
  • Uses sound judgement in decision making regarding financial matters
• Quality & Innovation:
  • Works to the highest of quality standards by anticipating problems, testing and checking their work, and pays close attention to detail
  • Continuously looks for way to improve quality within their department and offers suggestions to others areas
  • Creates new and better ways for the organization to be successful while adapting to change and engaging in continuous learning to promote the growth of the individual and the organization.
• Time Management and Dependability
  • Ability to achieve desired results within given time frames and decide between conflicting priorities
  • Shows up to work on time and is fully utilized and accounted for during work hours
  • Is relied upon and available when additional time and effort is required

Supervision Exercised

This role is a working director who manages approximately 15 employees on multiple teams including project managers, engineers, engineering technicians, designers, design analysts and test coordinators.

Physical Requirements & Working Conditions

While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to sit, stand, walk, observe, communicate and handle items such as computers, machinery and other equipment. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds.

Position requires the ability to obtain a Passport for international travel.

In regards to organizational issues, the employee will comply with the regulations set forward in the Anton Paar Employee Handbook, except if otherwise stated.

Anton Paar QuantaTec Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment opportunities at Anton Paar QuantaTec Inc. are based upon one's qualifications and capabilities to perform the essential functions of a particular job. All employment opportunities are provided without regard to: age, race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, genetic information, sickle cell trait, marital status, disability, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.