Job Description
Location(s): West Chicago, IL, US, 60185 Function: Research and Development Audience: Experienced Professional Work Arrangement: On Site Requisition ID: 69051 The Material Conversion R&D Leader provides technical and people leadership for material‑to‑process 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 judgment, and structured problem‑solving to navigate ambiguity, evaluate trade‑offs, and make sound decisions that balance performance, cost, risk, and manufacturability. JOB DESCRIPTION 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 material‑to‑process 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 long‑term 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 scale‑up. The position balances near‑term business needs with longer‑term innovation while ensuring solutions can be effectively transferred to operations. DIRECT REPORTS Leads a team of scientists and engineers responsible for material conversion research, process development, pilot trials, and technology transfer to manufacturing. RESPONSIBILITIES 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 end‑to‑end 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 long‑term manufacturability. Apply engineering judgment and critical thinking to guide teams in evaluating throughput, capacity, cycle time, yield, uptime, quality, cost, safety, and sustainability trade‑offs. 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 real‑world manufacturing conditions, operator interaction, maintainability, and lifecycle cost. Lead scale‑up from lab to pilot to manufacturing by guiding teams in defining process windows, operating envelopes, control strategies, start‑up/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 pilot‑scale and manufacturing trials, ensuring teams generate high‑quality, decision‑ready data that supports qualification, scale‑up decisions, and long‑term process control. Ensure material conversion processes meet safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements, embedding hazard analysis, risk assessment, and safe‑by‑design 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 executio