Technology Group Lead

Job Summary

The Technology Group Lead will oversee and mentor a team of early career researchers focused on advanced materials innovation, driving high-impact strategic technology development. This role requires strong technical acumen, leadership skills, and the ability to translate emerging science into actionable research directions aligned with corporate priorities. The Technology Group Lead will foster collaboration across internal and external stakeholders, ensuring projects progress through defined stage-gate processes.

Success in this position will be measured by the team's ability to deliver high-impact insights and prototypes that shape the company's future technology portfolio.

• Champion a culture of safety, respect, and integrity, modeling these behaviors daily and ensuring your team consistently upholds them.
• Inspire and mentor a team of researchers by providing hands-on technical guidance that nurtures curiosity, builds capability, and accelerates professional growth.
• Contribute to strategic project planning and execution, guiding research initiatives through a structured stage-gate innovation process to deliver impactful outcomes.
• Communicate project milestones, insights, and challenges effectively to senior leadership, transforming complex scientific advancements into clear, actionable updates.
• Identify emerging technology trends, recognizing opportunities that can shape the future of advanced materials and strengthen Avient's technology pipeline.
• Cultivate an environment where innovation thrives by encouraging collaboration, experimentation, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement within the team and across the organization.
• Contribute flexibly and proactively to the broader goals of the technology organization through additional responsibilities that support evolving business needs.
• Ensure documentation of inventive work by reviewing and submitting timely invention records and identifying adjacent white space opportunities to strengthen the Intellectual property portfolio.
• Other duties as assigned.

• Ensures safety including conducting regular meetings and area safety reviews.
• Writes and delivers performance evaluations.
• Ensures formulation accuracy.
• Administers project assignments and follow ups.
• Provides leadership and direction to direct reports to ensure priorities and overall business objectives are accomplished on time and at minimal cost.
• Assists technologist with real time lab tests.
• Ensures consistency in project data collection by technologists.
• Ensures safe operating procedures are in place and up-to-date for all process equipment.
• Coordinates training for new employees and cross training for existing employees.
• Ensures all communications reach all employees.
• Responsible for handling, loading, unloading hazardous materials and preparing hazardous materials for shipment. Will be required to undergo annual training related to hazardous material handling.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk; stoop; kneel; crouch or crawl; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; talk and/or hear.
• Occasionally required to sit.
• The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 55 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus, and ability to differentiate color.

• Ph.
  
  D. (preferred) in chemistry, material science, chemical engineering or other related field and 5+ years of related, progressively responsible experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience in industry (preferred) or academia.
• Requires a strong working knowledge of the polymer and/or advanced materials industry.

• Experience operating within a stagegate innovation framework and advancing concepts from discovery to validated prototypes.
• Demonstrated depth in polymer/materials science (e.g., structure-property relationships, compounding/formulation, rheology, thermal/mechanical properties, durability…