Position DescriptionTitle: R&D Engineering Manager
Department: Research and Development
Immediate Supervisor: R&D Director
Status: Exempt
Position Purpose: Responsible for leading the development, transition, and integration of new technologies and process platforms from R&D into production. The R&D Engineering Manager will provide engineering leadership and people leadership to the R&D process team as well as leading process and product development projects.
Principle Accountabilities- Create and sustain a safe work environment; support safety programs, encourage incident reporting, and support investigations/corrective actions.
- Lead, coach, and develop the R&D process team; set direction, expectations, and an execution rhythm
- Provide performance feedback and career development support to the R&D process team; build a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and professional growth
- Partner across R&D, Operations, Quality, Sales, EHS, Supply Chain, Finance, and other stakeholders to align priorities and execute project plans in support of strategic corporate initiatives
- Build strong vendor relationships; lead vendor evaluations, technical reviews, and collaboration to accelerate prototyping and problem-solving
- Oversee R&D's technology pipeline and ongoing capabilities including capital deployment and asset management
- Drive continuous innovation by evaluating new technologies and processes, making recommendations, and initiating proof of concept testing
- Apply Design of Experiments (DoE), statistics, and advanced analytics to plan experiments, interpret results, and guide decisions
- Establish strong technical documentation practices; experimental plans, run logs, interpretive reports, work instructions, and clear recommendations
- Utilize project management skills to define, plan, schedule and control the tasks that must be completed to reach project goals
- Ability to work with a union and facilitate teamwork, open communication and compliance to the current collective bargaining agreement
Essential Skills and Experience- Bachelor's degree in a related engineering field
- Master's degree in engineering or management is preferred
- 10+ years of engineering experience and 3+ years supervisory experience
- Strong competency with digital tools that support digital transformation and data analysis
- Strong mechanical aptitude with industrial mechanical process systems
- Experience with extrusion, mixing, coating, and packaging process experience is preferred
- Innovative, organized, self-starter with great problem-solving skills
- Collaborative interpersonal style
- Strong technical and non-technical communication skills, including written and verbal reports, and presentations to diverse audiences
