Head of R&D

POSITION SUMMARY:
This role is meant to functionally lead, coordinate and optimize product development related activities within the whole APAC region with focus on company´s R&D centers in Singapore, India, Korea and China. The Head of R&D APAC will ensure a project-appropriate usage of R&D competencies within the region to locate projects where expertise and capacities are available, to extend R&D capabilities in APAC with a global understanding by new engineering competencies and digital engineering excellence as well as establishing best-in-class processes to develop highly optimized standard products with optimized development times. It is the task to support the regional product management and global product cluster managers in setting up a strong product portfolio, and at the same time pushing for innovative offerings beyond the core. Dependent on the applicant, the Head of R&D APAC might also lead a local R&D team disciplinary, but focus is on strong functional leadership within the region based on collaboration and innovation management methods. The functional role is linked and guided by the Global Head of R&D.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Other duties may be assigned beyond the core functions listed below.

· Strategic Regional R&D Leadership
o Develop and execute a robust collaborative model between the major APAC R&D sites for standard product development
o Provide leadership for cross-functional regional teams, ensuring synergy and alignment both on technological level and with business objectives.
o Take over product development responsibility for Singapore

· R&D Strategy Deployment
o Translate the requirements from Global Head of R&D as functional manager into the region, align with the regional CTO and connect to the Head of Product Management APAC as sparring partner for running and future development projects and requests to R&D APAC
o Establish and foster a mature PD set-up for standard product development and implement research and advanced technology capabilities for company in the region, e.g. by fostering cooperations with universities, associations and expert groups
o Strongly support customer-specific projects with the regional R&D expertise where needed to be fast and reactive to customer projects
o Identify needed R&D competencies within the region and establish R&D competence centers
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· Best-in Class Processes Implementation
o Foster the existing collaborative model within the region and develop it further in terms of the global concept of 5 Years Integrated Roadmapping (5YIR) with strong alignment between Sales – Product Management – Product Development
o Support the global approach for driving a technology roadmap within the 5YIR, make APAC related R&D projects transparent and trackable
o Implement Product & Innovation KPIs as well as bring in the APAC perspective into the process-oriented redesign of the company on product development level
o Set-up a long-term competence and resource roadmap for R&D in APAC

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Manage the heads of three R&D teams within the regions functionally:
Responsible for standard product development in main region with strong focus on compound development , robotic cables / innovative new offerings , data cable development as well as testing and Trade product development.
· Provide leadership to a broader team include engineers and managers within the region.
· Continuously develop team capabilities through training and mentorship in strong alignment with the global R&D competence compass.

QUALIFICATIONS:
· Masters's degree in Engineering (BE/B-Tech in any discipline), PhD is desirable.
· A professional management degree (MBA or equivalent) is desirable.
· Minimum of 10+ years of experience, with 5 years in R&D roles with manufacturing background
· Publications, patents or any other kind of proof for innovative thinking expected.
This role required 30% travelling

REQUIRED SKILLS:
· Innovative thinking, close to technology and innovation management based methods and driven to find new business opportunities from market pull and tech push side.
· Strong leadership and people management skills; expertise as project leader preferred.
· Excellent commercial acumen and negotiation abilities.
· Expertise in product development (both standard product development as well as research if possible)
· Strong communication skills, both written and verbal in English.

Mon to Fri 8.30am - 5.30pm

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