Vice President, Research & Development

Velcro Companies

It’s a great time to join Velcro Companies
!

This role will lead the company's Research & Development initiatives, reporting directly to the Chief Innovation and Technology Officer. The successful candidate will oversee and grow the R&D functions focused on Technology and Equipment Platforms, managing a global team of over 10 professionals. Responsibilities include driving R&D and product development strategies aligned with customer needs, and collaborating cross-functionally with business, commercial, and marketing leaders to advance innovation efforts.

The ideal candidate will have strong experience in plastics injection molding, nonwovens manufacturing, and the Personal Care industry, with a proven ability to lead global teams and deliver impactful innovation.

• Develop an R&D agenda that supports the strategic business growth agenda, including continued growth in B2B and accelerated growth for the Consumer business.
• Build a strong innovation pipeline in partnership with the commercial and business leaders. Ensure that the pipeline is set up for profitable growth.
• Drive innovation efforts and investment, monetarizing the investment. Bring to market a pipeline that will be broadly adapted and provide the company with a competitive advantage.
• Implement a fully integrated concept to commercialization process across the organization. This should include the right milestones, timelines, and metrics, with the goal of improving discipline and speed to market.
• Further drive the stage gate process, ensuring adoption across the organization and improving efficiency and effectiveness.
• Define and develop KPI's to measure the progress of the function, driving the function toward a metrics-driven, results-oriented group.
• Lead efforts in open innovation. Drive co-customer development as needed.
• Continually collaborate across the organization to develop and refine the R&D strategy.
• Retain and develop a best-in-class team. Assess capability gaps and address accordingly by adding talent to the organization.

• PHD in relevant technical field.
• 10 years' experience leading global R&D organization for a similar size and scale business with a team of 35+; leadership of complex, distributed R&D team.
• Relevant B2B technology experience (e.g., specialty materials/process industries including plastics injection molding, adhesives, non-woven, etc.) and Consumer products experience.
• Experience in mid-sized, agile businesses.
• History of metrics-driven R&D leadership with financially profitable outcomes
• Track record of open innovation/customer co-development.
• Proven history of driving the product pipeline, including new product development and disruptive innovation in alignment with the business leaders.
• Ability to rollout processes and systems across an organization cross-functionally to enable growth.
• Ability to inspire, retain, and develop a high performing team.
• Strong communicator and trusted advisor for technology
• Ability to be successful in flexible, less structure environments
• Ability to create followership and drive positive sustained change.
• Highly collaborative, building relationships across the organization and with the team.
• Strong business acumen with evidence of bringing business-led perspective to technology
• MS Office Suite (Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, Word).
• Ability to travel up to 25%, both domestically and internationally.

Results Oriented: Drive for improvement of business results and higher levels of performance, to include all key metrics. Drive top line, bottom line and other key measures both within R&D and across the company more broadly. Demonstrate an ability to establish a high-performance ethic and culture that is committed to growth, creativity, innovation, change and consistent achievement of clear and challenging objectives.

Demonstrate a track record of creating unique value for business and customers and satisfying their needs while delivering superior financial results and high growth. Drive improvements while maintaining consistent delivery of KPI's.

Team Leadership: Effectively lead global, performance-focused teams, driving accountability across the team for meeting agreed upon objectives. Measure team results with clear metrics and key performance indicators used to drive and manage the business. Skilled at communicating ideas to others and consistently invite and consider input from other in driving the group forward.

Collaborating and Influencing: Demonstrate the ability to build constructive and effective relationships across an organization. The skill to collaborate and influence is especially important given the partnership required to work effectively with the business to drive results. Able to influence upwards and across the organization by communicating well with a broad range of people. Competent to take inherent, technical, or complex issues and explain them in…