Purpose of the position

The Innovation team must have a highly effective and productive R&D pipeline. Satisfying customer demands/expectations and delivering consistent profitable growth for Messer depends on it. The Senior Technologist, R&D plays an essential role in delivering on this responsibility.

The Senior Technologist, R&D will be the Messer expert in growth market segments including aerospace and helium, and other emerging applications. The Senior Technologist, R&D is responsible for leading, supporting and managing highly complex new product development projects from initial concept through development and verification/validation testing and into commercialization. They will lead cross functional teams and utilize project management tools, techniques, and experience to drive product development and engineering activities and execute to expected company timelines, budgets, and quality.

The Senior Technologist, R&D will also be responsible for cutting-edge, blue-sky research initiatives. These could include significant differentiating technologies across all segments.

The Senior Technologist, R&D is responsible for establishing and driving a highly effective ideation process, working with both internal and external stakeholders to ensure a robust and steady stream of new development ideas/concepts.

Principal responsibilities

The principal responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Serve as the Messer technical expert in core fundamentals across growth market segments and other core segments where their expertise is required.
• Lead and consult on highly technical, blue-sky R&D projects.
• Represent Messer as a technology leader through participation in technical conferences and research papers.
• Establish and coordinate R&D and JD activities with universities and other technical 3rd
• Support the broader Messer organization on select technologies.
• Serve as a mentor to engineers and researchers across the Messer Organization.
• Coordinate the design and execution of cross-functional project plans for application development projects.
• Lead team meetings and ensure that clear actions and decisions are documented, communicated, and committed to, enabling timeline achievement.
• Deliver high-quality execution and on-time achievement of cost, schedule, and performance goals of large scale and complex development projects.
• Maintain frequent communication with the cross-functional project team members and key internal stakeholders so that all parties are aware of current project status, issues, contingencies, and milestones.
• Track realized performance, adjust forecasts and plans to align with shifting priorities and report to management.
• Interface with internal and external customers
• Build strong working relationships across departments with key stakeholders and management to ensure transparency and to facilitate communication.
• Establish and lead a consistent and effective ideation process that assimilates both internal and external ideas into a prioritized and actionable pool or future development projects.
• Project management - responsible for managing highly technical and / or capex intensive development projects with up to 2 - 5 $M budget.
• Lead transfer of knowledge related to all technologies across all segments.
• Gather ideas for new applications/products, evaluate feasibility and initiation of new projects.
• Safeguard new ideas via patent applications.
• Messer R&D point for all research conducted at the Messer Technical Center for growth markets.
• Initiate and support acquisition of reference/lead customers for new products together with local experts.
• Continuously develop the technical competence of the local experts across all growth markets segments.
• Customer project support for knowledge transfer, aligned with Market Segment and Americas strategy.
• Publication of articles in technical journals, presentation on congresses, customer symposia, etc.
• Technical input for communication material, and active participation in international fairs/events.
• Input information into knowledge management tools.

Key interfaces

Application Development engineers, Messer Americas executive management team members, regional application managers and Marketing Managers, Messer Electronics & Specialty Gases Americas and Global teams, Americas Bulk Gases sales teams, Americas Project Execution Engineering team, Project Steering Committee, Consultants, Fabricators, key Customers and/ or key Suppliers and Messer Group technical organization. Will also require outside partnerships for joint-development projects (customers, key supply partners, research institutes, etc.)

Applicable competencies

Business Acumen - Critical, Cross-Cultural Communication & Collaboration - Critical, Customer Focus - Critical, Decision-Making and Execution - Critical, Embracing and Leading Change - Critical, Employee Development & Empowerment - Critical, Functional & Technical Competence - Critical, Process and Project and Risk Management - Critical, Strategic Thinking and Delivery - Critical, Visible Leadership - Critical

Required Skills

• Must be an innovative, driven, highly organized initiative-taker with the ability to manage multiple activities and comfortable interacting with all levels of management within the company.
• Must be a recognized technical expert across the Messer organization
• Demonstrated in depth knowledge of the industrial gases, equipment and customer processes required.
• Effective communication skills.
• Successful track record of interpersonal people, time management, organizational, and prioritization skills.
• Willing and able to learn new skills to meet changing needs of the organization.
• Experienced at working in a collaborative team environment, as well as providing technical leadership
• Proven record of recognizing and developing rough concepts into successful new product introductions.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Science - Graduate degree in Engineering preferred.
• 20+ years of industry experience or Mechanical / Chemical engineering
• 15+ years of R&D, engineering experience

The salary range for this position is $135,000-$172,000. Messer provides medical, dental, vision, short term disability, life insurance and paid time off as well as other voluntary benefits, such as, long term disability in accordance with the terms and conditions of these Plans. Employees are eligible to enroll in Messer's 401(k) Plan. Employees may be eligible to participate in the company's bonus program.