R&D Program Lead, Non-Wovens

As the R&D Program Lead for North America, you will be an on‑the‑ground R&D business partner to the North America Marketing, Sales and Supply Chain teams across our portfolio of brands. You will lead and coordinate delivery of renovation, innovation and savings projects in partnership with the broader business to bring sustained and exceptional growth to the North American business. Reporting directly to the Senior Director R&D Program, you will drive growth direction while ensuring continued business improvement through a product lens – improving consumer experience, reducing costs, and executing risk‑based responses to new customer and consumer needs.

You will work closely with a small, entrepreneurial cross‑functional team and influence project direction at a critical level, rapidly developing skills beyond typical R&D functional expertise.

• Lead and land projects for brands as Technical Project Leader.
• Ensure all mandated product development protocols and requirements are addressed, and that products meet all consumer safety and regulatory requirements.
• Manage the project plan along with the project team, ensuring a proper risk assessment and mitigation plan is in place.
• Develop compelling consumer and customer insights and stories through connection with consumers; support business through direct customer interactions and presentations where required.
• Identify and bring to the organization new business opportunities through novel thinking and an understanding of consumer trends and needs.
• Work closely with other R&D functions to deliver assigned projects and broader product development capabilities such as savings, technical capability building, consumer/customer test sample making, etc.
• Ensure the product functions as expected, has been demonstrated via relevant testing and interpretation of results, and has created relevant specifications; oversee preparation of product samples at various stages of product development to support this and understand environmental footprint and impact.
• Lead input of whole product related perspective to cross‑functional teams, ensuring risks are identified, understood and mitigated; ensure timings and expectations of R&D related activities are ambitious and correctly recognized within project plans.

• 5+ years’ experience in technical product development roles, with experience acting as Technical Project Leader or R&D Program Lead.
• Experience with in more than one functional area of R&D is desirable.
• Scientific degree in a relevant field, or an alternative transferable technical qualification.
• Experience with in non‑woven cotton products is a plus.
• Track record of delivering products to market, working with cross‑functional teams and external partners; experience within the US and Canada markets is preferable.
• Experience of stakeholder and risk management, with examples of working agilely and leveraging an 80:20 mindset for program delivery.
• A creative, logical and analytical mind to generate innovative solutions to technical problems.
• Ability to apply business understanding and prioritize the impact of development choices considering factors such as cost, quality, consumer and environment.
• Enthusiastic and self‑motivated with strong verbal and written communication skills; able to communicate to people at all levels of the business, across different functions.

• Positive, energetic, and consumer‑centric focused.
• Creative and inquisitive, with a history of seeking and implementing best practices.
• Strong business acumen and critical thinking skills.
• Collaborative, accountable, and committed to continuous improvement.
• Able to develop and implement strategy with a high bias for execution.

This is a high‑impact role at the intersection of science and strategy, where you will influence the future stability, competitiveness, and profitability of a growing consumer healthcare platform. As part of Suave Brands Co., you’ll have the opportunity to deliver tangible business value through innovation that is both practical and scalable.

Base salary: $120,000 – $130,000 per year. We also offer an annual discretionary bonus based on individual and company performance. Actual compensation may vary by experience, skills, and geographic location.

Seniority level:
Mid‑Senior level
•

Employment type:

Full‑time
• Job function:
Research
• Industries:
Retail, Consumer Services, and Retail Health and Personal Care Products.