Job Description

The R&D - Manager of Commercial Applications is responsible for overseeing the application laboratory and leading the development and optimization of product applications. This role serves as a subject matter expert, particularly in rheology and product application supporting both internal stakeholders and external customers within the Industrial Wood Division. The role also serves as a technical applications expert for both existing and new customers, actively engaging in customer meetings to provide training and explain modifications made to application lines, ensuring adoption of best practices to achieve optimized performance of Industrial Wood (IW) products.

Externally, the R&D - Manager Commercial Applications focuses on aligning lab capabilities with customer-specific processes to effectively simulate real-world application conditions, enabling robust product validation and continuous improvement initiatives. This includes conducting critical trials at customer sites, implementing products on customer equipment, and providing hands-on guidance. The role also involves training and supporting local technical service teams to optimize process parameters and achieve targeted performance using existing, modified, and newly developed products.

Internally, the R&D - Manager Commercial Applications supports product development and lifecycle management by conducting application testing, validating product and batch performance, addressing quality issues, and benchmarking internal and competitive products. Additionally, the role provides technical training and knowledge transfer across technical, commercial, and cross-functional teams as needed.

Job duties include contact with other employees and access confidential and proprietary information and/or other items of value, and such access may be supervised or unsupervised. The Company therefore has determined that a review of criminal history is necessary to protect the business and its operations and reputation and is necessary to protect the safety of the Company's staff, employees, and business relationships.
Work demands may shift based on business priorities, requiring effective prioritization and occasional flexibility in work hours to support urgent or manufacturing-related needs.

Responsibilities
• Responsible for the day-to-day management of the applications laboratory, ensuring safe operations and effective execution of projects.
• Responsible for providing testing support and guidance for stage gate product development, product investigations, and internal and external product benchmarking.
• Calculate, coordinate, and communicate required personnel, substrates, application equipment time, and material quantities to support multi-product benchmarking projects.
• Complete application assessment for stage gate projects for all technologies
• Complete application work and provide feedback for, Raw-Material replacement, Manufacturing site change, Rework and technology transfer projects
• Utilizes extensive knowledge of product performance to interpret coating application results to provide feedback to formulation team in developing new products
• Responsible for development and validation of Industrial Wood (IW) application procedures to align with line audits of customers.
• Responsible for the maintenance of current equipment and capital planning of new equipment.
• Responsible for the management of one or more team members.
• Responsible for maintaining external communication on scheduling to the IW team.
• Responsible for developing and providing application training to internal and external customers both at internal and external sites including trade shows.
• Responsible for development and maintenance of line audit documentation for customers.
• Responsible for scheduling meetings to coordinate materials and substrates to ensure testing and training are executed with minimal variation from defined processes and product specifications
• Responsible for troubleshooting on external customer lines without technical lab assistance
• Responsible for gathering information and designing testing parameters to reproduce quality issues and provide feedback to quality and R&D team on product and application differences
• Responsible for customer application trials and training local technical service staff at IW sites as well as at customer sites with or without technical lab assistance.
• Host customer visits and lead live product demonstrations on customer substrates, analyzing results with key decision-makers to drive approvals or implement targeted adjustments to application processes and product selection.
• Coaches and mentors team members to ensure timely completion of projects and career growth as needed.
• Consult on continuous improvement initiatives to support internal and external customers.
• Consult on product selection for current and future product systems to the development lab.
• Consult on the creation of sales tools including training manuals and brochures.

Qualifications

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
• Must be legally authorized to work in the country of employment without needing sponsorship for employment work visa status now or in the future (e.g., OPT, CPT, H1B, EB-1,etc.)
• Bachelor's degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Math field.
• Must be at least 18 years of age.
• Must have knowledge of conventional Industrial Wood Coatings flat line application equipment including reciprocal, fixed head spray, roll, curtain coat, and vacuum coaters.
• Must have knowledge of Rheology and its use in Coatings
• Must have 10 years of applications experience.
• Must have knowledge of conventional solvent-borne products such as conversion varnishes, lacquers and PU's as well as UV.
• Must have knowledge of conventional as well as UV waterborne product applications as well as 100% solids UV.
• Must have knowledge of key measurement techniques used in the evaluation of products during application such as film thickness, gloss, and color.
• Must have extensive experience at customer application line and performing line audits.
• Must have 5+ years of management/leadership experience and the ability to communicate effectively in a matrix environment of differing organizational structures and physical locations.
• Computer skills (Word, Excel, Emails, video conference)
• Advanced PowerPoint skills and presentation in front of customers
• Advanced data analysis skills
• Documentation and Line audit
• Project management/scheduling experience

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
• Experience in a technical laboratory.
• Knowledge of Rheology as it pertains to Wood Coatings
• Proven ability to understand and utilize statistical analysis to interpret data as pertains to product application
• Understanding of typical manufacturing strategies for producing product.

Travel Requirements: 20%

This position is not eligible for sponsorship for work authorization now or in the future, including conversion to H-1B visa.

Successful candidate will be required to sign an Employee Restrictive Covenant Agreement where permitted by law.