Material Conversion R&D Leader

Material Conversion R&D Leader

The Material Conversion R&D Leader provides technical and people leadership for materialtoprocess conversion within Doors R&D. This role is accountable for translating material concepts into scalable, manufacturable processes for interior and exterior door systems. Success requires strong critical thinking, engineering judgement, and structured problem solving to navigate ambiguity, evaluate tradeoffs, and make sound decisions that balance performance, cost, risk, and manufacturability.

West Chicago, IL, US, 60185

Research and Development

Experienced Professional

On Site

69051

The Material Conversion R&D Leader leads the material conversion capability within the Material and Process Innovation (MPI) organization, owning technical direction and execution across materialtoprocess development programs. This role bridges materials science, process development, and manufacturing execution to ensure new materials and processes are industrialized successfully.

The position leads a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers and serves as a senior technical authority for material conversion decisions. The leader partners closely with Product Engineering, Tooling, Operations, Quality, and Supply Chain to ensure solutions are developed with a clear understanding of manufacturing constraints, scalability, and longterm robustness.

Operating in a technically complex and ambiguous environment, the role applies scientific rigor and critical thinking to evaluate incomplete data, manage technical risk, and guide teams from concept through pilot validation and manufacturing scaleup. The position balances nearterm business needs with longer term innovation while ensuring solutions can be effectively transferred to operations.

Leads a team of scientists and engineers responsible for material conversion research, process development, pilot trials, and technology transfer to manufacturing.

• Lead and develop the Material Conversion R&D team, setting clear technical direction, expectations, and priorities aligned with Doors R&D. Build team capability by coaching and mentoring scientists and engineers in process fundamentals, system level thinking, automation awareness, and structured problem solving, creating a strong pipeline of technical leaders.
• Lead material conversion programs and portfolios through the team, ensuring alignment of people, resources, timelines, and deliverables to achieve program objectives. Own endtoend material conversion program execution, from concept through pilot validation and manufacturing handoff.
• Establish technical direction for process architectures, equipment platforms, and automation strategies, ensuring scalability, robustness, and longterm manufacturability.
• Apply engineering judgement and critical thinking to guide teams in evaluating throughput, capacity, cycle time, yield, uptime, quality, cost, safety, and sustainability tradeoffs. Provide senior technical leadership for manufacturing systems involving automation and mechanical equipment, including pumps, drives, gear systems, material handling, controls, utilities, and supporting infrastructure required to deliver a complete operational process.
• Partner with Business, Operations, Tooling, Automation, Controls, Maintenance, Quality, and EHS teams to ensure programs are designed for realworld manufacturing conditions, operator interaction, maintainability, and lifecycle cost.
• Lead scaleup from lab to pilot to manufacturing by guiding teams in defining process windows, operating envelopes, control strategies, startup/shutdown conditions, and readiness criteria.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate technical and operational risks across programs related to equipment capability, process robustness, automation reliability, material variability, and plant integration.
• Guide pilotscale and manufacturing trials, ensuring teams generate high quality, decision ready data that supports qualification, scaleup decisions, and longterm process control. Ensure material conversion processes meet safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements, embedding hazard analysis, risk assessment, and safebydesign principles throughout development.
• Oversee development and implementation of SOPs, work instructions, and process documentation, ensuring safe operation, training effectiveness, and successful technology transfer.
• Collaborate with Quality and Operations to define critical process parameters, control plans, monitoring strategies, and response plans that ensure consistent product performance. Drive disciplined program execution using structured project management practices, including scope definition, milestones, stage gates, risk reviews, and deliverables.
• Serve as a senior technical escalation point, supporting teams in resolving complex process, equipment, automation, and operational readiness challenges. Promote a strong safety culture and ensure…