Team Leader, Material Science Beauty & Personal Care

Responsibilities Include:

Safety, Continuous Improvement/Quality and Cultural Leadership

• Install and continuously improve laboratory safe working practices.
• Be the role model and champion of the Corporate Culture (Safety, Continuous Improvement and Quality) at the site Technology team.
• Work closely with other members of Corporate/Business Unit Technology team across the globe by role-modelling cohesion and collaboration.
• Foster a cohesive and well-functioning team as the leader of a team and a member of leadership team of the Site, BU/Segment and Corporate.
• Represent MPM during customer interaction occasions and technical conferences.
• Work closely with Commercial, Marketing and ADE leadership of the Segment and establish and maintain a vibrant customer interface.

People Leadership

• Recruit, hire and design impactful material science-based team.
• Strengthen talent pipeline of scientists and Technologists through project enrollment, coaching, training and development programs based on the Strategic Talent Management Process and Performance Management Cycles in collaboration with managers of project members.
• Foster teams Technical Career Path growth through Individual Development planning and execution.
• Regularly provide feedback and advice, thereby helping individual team members to grow through their work at Momentive.
• Establish a stimulating and creative work environment and initiate and execute staff recruitment and development plans.

Technology Team Leadership

• Initiate, develop and continually renew a robust portfolio of personal care focused product offerings to help Momentive and/or its strategic customers in Personal Care.
• Work closely with Global BU Technology, Marketing and Strategic Marketing to establish clear Business alignment of goals and critical milestones for the team. Drive the team to pursue timely delivery of critical milestones.
• Be accountable for the technology development from the team that meets or exceeds Customer/Industry requirements. Establish operating policies and procedures that enable the above.
• Ensure MPMs new product development processes and systems are fully utilized at the team, and fully utilize these for regular project review occasions.
• Serve as an interface to regional and global customers to better understand how their roadmaps and material needs can be translated into technical targets for Momentive’s R&D team members.
• Interface with Global IP team to create and manage a highly competitive patent portfolio for the product line and IP Barriers to competitors with understanding of competitive patent landscape.
• Establish a stimulating and creative work environment and initiate and execute staff recruitment and development plans.
• Interface externally with academic and industrial collaborators to identify new opportunities and to develop synergistic collaborations upon alignment with the Segment Technology Leadership team.

Preferred candidate profile

• 10+ years Research & Development experience
• Technically led and mentored early career technology professionals preferably in the fields of product development in Beauty and Personal Care
• MS or PhD Degree in Surface Science in Material Science
• Multi-National Leadership (as manager or project leader) experience is preferred
• Language: English

Required Work Experience

• Strong technical competence and ability to evaluate/down-select technical approaches.
• Proven managerial experience- Proven experience with strategic evaluation/planning/road-mapping.
• Proven expertise in team development- Experience in building robust technology teams.
• History of driving advanced business/technology concepts to fruition.

Required Technical/Business/Leadership Skills and Knowledge

• Knowledge of overseeing laboratory operations and the implementation of safe laboratory practices & regulations.
• Strong leadership skills, capable of driving teams to establish roadmaps, budgeting, planning, and technology components for advanced platforms.
• Portfolio management experience (able to develop and manage a broad portfolio of programs from the standpoint of technology)
• Experience in partnership/collaboration/open innovation
• Strong Managerial Skills
• Outstanding oral and written communication skills
• Critical thinker with excellent analytical skill

Demonstrated excellent prioritization and organization skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Ph.D. in material science or surface science
• Proven leadership skills for a team with diverse background and skill levels.
• Experience in interacting with customers across regions.
• Working knowledge of Beauty and Personal Care applications
• Proven method development skills with collelation of instrumental data with consumer experience