Head of Research and Development / R&D Manager (Permanent)

Job Title: Head of Research and Development

Location: Maldon

Salary: £60,000 - £65,000 depending on experience

Job Type: Full Time, Permanent

The Company is a leading life science company that designs & develops ultra-low temperature freezers for liquid handling in laboratories worldwide.

Job Purpose:

• Management of local R&D department with a team size of 8-15 employees
• Realization of product development roadmap in alignment with business unit
• Responsibility for state-of-the-art technology know how within the department and project execution excellence with agreed upon KPIs, like budget time lines, features, etc.
• Management of core freezer technology portfolio, incl. IP
• Product maintenance of existing product portfolio
• Responsibility for product quality with regards to product design and component functions
• Stakeholder management of all interfaces, in particular of Business Unit/competence centre relationship
• Alignment and/or integration of local product development responsibilities with system architecture of group-wide technology platforms
• Management of local R&D team as a matrix organization within defined RACI responsibilities
• Position will report to local MD and Head of Instrumentation R&D within a functional matrix setup

Key Responsibilities:

• Daily management of R&D teams and interfaces with strong focus on execution excellence within agreed upon KPIs
• Development and maintenance of state-of-the-art technology standards with regard to core freezer functions, always in alignment with system architecture provided by group-wide R&D responsibility outside of the company.
• Project management within company guidelines (agile SAFs process), establishing a strong R&D organization with an agile and continuous skill improvement mindset
• Continuous improvement of R&D team capabilities and agile mindset
• Management of all internal and external stakeholders, especially with the soon to be established matrix R&D organization
• Continuous screening of competition, market and application requirements, with a strong focus on technology
• Implementation of product testing capabilities and an organizational structure which guarantees highest product quality of developed products
• Provide guidance and expertise on make-or-buy decisions within cross-department management teams
• R&D execution of specific freezer topics within global cross-CC R&D projects within agreed upon setup and performance KPIs
• Establish local performance controlling using corporate guidelines and templates wherever available
• Establish competence network for core freezer functions using internal and external expertise.

Key Requirements:

Essential Requirements

• Proven strong leadership skills
• Degree in engineering, preferably electrical engineering
• Proven Strong Project Management skills

Education & Experience

• Masters Degree with an engineering or electronics background
• 10 year meaningful work experience, preferably with an international background in leading R&D projects and development teams
• Strong technology background, preferably in relevant disciplines, like mechanical engineering and/or refrigeration technologies
• Experience in Life Science industry and development under regulatory requirements (ISO 9001 and 13485) is preferred.

Professional competencies, special knowledge

• Experience with agile development principles
• Proven track record in R&D project execution and management of multi-national R&D teams
• Track record in realignment of development teams.
• Excellent English skills.

Personal Skills

• Strong leadership with a positive agile mindset combined with a strong focus on execution excellence.
• Results driven person who empowers teams.
• High technical decision quality.
• Authentic and loyal.
• Customer-oriented, knows how to interact with customers and how to improve product performance based on customer feedback.

Please click on the APPLY button to send your CV and Cover Letter for this role.

Candidates with experience of; Research and Development, R&D, Product Development, Researcher, Mechanical Engineering, Refrigeration Engineer, Product Design, Electronics Engineer, Electrical Engineer, R&D Team Leader, Research Scientist may also be considered for this role.