Sr Materials Engineer Manager; Electrical Contacts

Your Job

Lead a global R&D team within Global Materials Engineering, comprised of Metals, Tribology, and Plating subject‑matter experts (SMEs), to define, develop, and deploy enterprise‑wide technology roadmaps for connector contact systems. Provide technical leadership and governance across the enterprise, supporting all Business Units (BUs) and partnering with Engineering, Manufacturing/Operations, Procurement, and Quality to deliver reliable, scalable, differentiated, and cost‑effective contact surface technologies.

Develop and strengthen technical talent and supervisors by coaching, mentoring, and building functional and leadership capabilities across the global team. In addition to mid‑to‑long‑range technology development, the team provides timely, request‑driven technical support to address near‑term program needs, manufacturing issues, supplier challenges, and customer inquiries.

• Lead a global specialist team, manage, coach, and develop a global team of SMEs in Metals, Tribology, and Plating/Surface Finishes; balance 3‑5 year roadmap execution with near‑term, request‑driven support, while setting priorities across multiple BUs and time zones.
• Establish team operating mechanisms including technical reviews, project tracking/reporting, stakeholder engagement, decision rights, standards ownership, and knowledge management; ensure lab/operations safety, compliance, and disciplined documentation.
• Serve as the enterprise technical authority for contact surfaces; own and maintain a global materials database, specifications, and guidelines for contact base alloys, finish stacks, barrier layers, and tribological strategies (e.g., fretting mitigation, lubrication, cleanliness).
• Partner across the enterprise—including Engineering, Manufacturing/Operations, Procurement, Quality/Supplier Quality, and the supply base—to translate BU and customer needs into standardized solutions and enterprise technology development strategies.
• Develop and maintain a 3‑5 year global technology roadmap for contact materials and surface engineering (performance‑cost optimization, high performance metals, precious‑metal strategy, new finishes, reliability improvements, and enhanced test methods).
• Identify, prioritize, and lead roadmap projects and external collaborations (suppliers, labs, universities/consortia) as needed.
• Support supplier technical engagement—including qualification requirements, technical reviews, change control, and new technology development—in collaboration with Procurement and Supplier Quality.
• Provide consultative and hands‑on support to BU product teams for new product development, innovation platforms, and customer qualifications, including material/finish selection and validation strategy.
• Lead root‑cause investigations, containment, and corrective actions for contact‑related failures across plants and suppliers and verify effectiveness through testing and data.

• Masters/Ph.D. or equivalent industrial experience in Materials Science, Metallurgy, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering.
• Practical Engineering experience with metallurgy and plating & finish systems, including surface‑driven failure mechanisms (wear, fretting corrosion, film growth, diffusion, porosity, contamination) and impacts to manufacturability and contact resistance stability.
• Demonstrated experience in electrical contacts/connector contact systems (materials selection, plating/finish stacks, tribology/fretting, and/or contact reliability), with cross‑functional collaboration in a manufacturing and supplier ecosystems.
• Five (5) years or more people‑management experience in leading a team.
• Experience with project/program management of multi‑project portfolios (scope, schedule, resourcing, risk, executive reporting) across global stakeholders.
• Experience building and executing 3‑5 year technology roadmaps, including business cases and transition‑to‑BU adoption.

• Enterprise/global experience supporting multiple BUs, plants, and supplier networks—driving consistent standards, governance, and…