R&D Director

Sheffield - UK

Monthly Salary: Not Disclosed

Posted on: 2 days ago

Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

Description

Join us as R&D Director where you will lead and shape a highimpact R&D function supporting our Paints Sealants and Waterproofing portfolio across this senior leadership role you will be responsible for driving innovation technical excellence and regulatory compliance while ensuring R&D activity is tightly aligned to business strategy and commercial priorities.

You will lead a team of experienced technical professionals own the innovation pipeline and technology roadmap and act as the organisations senior technical authority. Working closely with Marketing Sales Operations Manufacturing Quality Legal and external partners you will translate market needs and emerging technology into differentiated scalable and compliant products.

As a visible and trusted leader you will guide strategic decisionmaking mentor technical talent and represent the business externally across industry bodies universities and innovation networks.

Responsibilities

R&D Leadership & Team Management

Lead manage and develop the R&D organisation supporting 17 employees with 2 direct reports.
Align track and report R&D KPIs in line with business objectives.
Ensure projects are delivered on time to agreed specifications and in line with business expectations.
Act as a coach and mentor to direct reports and as a recognised technical expert across the business.
Ensure the smooth safe and compliant operation of the R&D laboratory.

Market Technology & Regulatory Insight

Monitor the wider coatings market for trends innovations and competitive activity.
Maintain awareness of developments across competitors suppliers conferences industry bodies (CEPE BCF RSC) and technical literature.
Stay up to date with the evolving regulatory landscape and translate changes into clear technical and business actions.

Innovation Pipelines & Technology Roadmaps

Build and own technical pipelines innovation roadmaps and formulation platforms.
Lead innovation scouting activities based on market and customer understanding.
Leverage global technology platforms to maximise scale speed and margin.
Partner closely with Marketing and regional stakeholders to implement new technologies accelerate timetomarket and deliver competitive advantage.

Technical Training & Business Support

Provide technical training and support to nontechnical Sales Marketing and Customer Service teams.
Deliver technical presentations and respond to complex technical questions from internal teams and customers.
Act as a trusted technical authority supporting customer engagement and issue resolution.

Funding University Partnerships & Intellectual Property

Act as the main contact for government funding and grant opportunities.
Lead and manage collaborations with universities and research institutions.
Work with Legal and wider stakeholders to develop protect and optimise the intellectual property portfolio supporting both local and global technology platforms.

Manufacturing & Quality Support

Support manufacturing optimisation using expert formulation knowledge and tools such as DOE.
Optimise formulations for efficient manufacture robustness and lowest total cost.
Support quality investigations and rootcause analysis in partnership with Operations and Quality teams.

General Responsibilities

Maintain company property and records securely.
Adhere to all company policies including Health & Safety.
Complete all mandatory training and represent the company professionally.

Qualifications

Were seeking an experienced and credible R&D leader with deep coatings expertise strong people leadership skills and the ability to translate science into commercial impact.

Education & Experience

Required: BSc in Chemistry or BEng in Chemical Engineering.
Preferred: Higher degree with experience in polymers and coatings.
Required: Minimum 10 years experience within the coatings industry.
Preferred: Experience in waterbased architectural coatings or waterbased wood coatings.

Technical Expertise

Waterbased coating formulation.
Waterbased polymer and resin design.
Deep understanding of coatings raw materials.
Six Sigma methodology.
Preferred: Adhesives formulation or solventbased formulation experience.

Leadership & Collaboration

Proven experience leading and developing highperforming technical teams.
Strong coaching mentoring and stakeholdermanagement capability.
Ability to influence crossfunctional partners across Marketing Sales Manufacturing Quality and Legal.
Confident communicator who can translate complex technical topics into clear business outcomes.

Personal Attributes

Strategic curious and innovationdriven.
Commercially aware with strong prioritisation and decisionmaking skills.
Resilient proactive and accountable.
A role model for safety compliance and corporate values.

If youre ready to make an impact and grow with a dynamic team wed love to hear from you!

Location:Sheffield Office / Plant

Hybrid Working:3 days in office 2 days from home

Our offer to you...

Attractive salary
Company bonus scheme
Private medical insurance for yourself and family
Life Pension Scheme Company Contributed
Continued payment of salary in the event of sickness & 25 days of annual leave
Work-life balance
Career opportunities
Ongoing training and support

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Required Experience:

Director

DescriptionJoin us as R&D Director where you will lead and shape a highimpact R&D function supporting our Paints Sealants and Waterproofing portfolio across this senior leadership role you will be responsible for driving innovation technical excellence and regulatory compliance while ensuring R&D a...