Treviso
R&D COMFORT MANAGER
Job Responsibilities
JOB SUMMARY:
Lead the global line of Comfort (Portable air conditioner, Heating system and Air treatment) Small Domestic Appliances Business Research and Development activity to provide sustainable business growth through new core technologies and new products according to corporate strategy and business objective.
REPORTS TO:
Global R&D Director
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Take overall responsibility for the Comfort Business SDA Research and Development activities
- Design and lead research and development programs that will improve the products and process in the Comfort organisation
- In collaboration with MKT and Program Management function, Manage and strategically control the overall NPD = New Product Development Program -Portfolio ( 5 years Plan ) to ensure that the development process is carried out effectively and a strong Innovation pipeline is enabled / secured and ensure that the research and development function adheres to best practice in the marketplace
- Lead an organisation of 25-30 Research & Development Engineers located in Italy and in China. Recruit ,hire and train department staff, evaluate staff performance, develops goals and objectives for staff
- Oversee and steer following main functions : Laboratory team, Mechanical Designers, Electronic Engineers, Approbation Engineers
- Oversee training and development initiatives for R&D employees to ensure that the group can attract the brightest R&D employees in all new identified areas of R&D.
- Create a strong creativity mindset culture in the organisation.
- In collaboration with the Technology Innovation Department, participates in innovation projects planning in order to deliver "on shelf" new solutions for new product development.
- Approves and submits proposals considered feasible to management for consideration and allocation of funds or allocate funds from the approved department budget
- Develops scorecards, methods and procedures for monitoring projects from a technical and economical point of view
- Negotiate contracts with consulting firms to perform research studies
- Strives for deep scientific consumer understanding for the categories
- Identifying and implementing improvements to processes, techniques and methodologies as applicable e.g. DFMEA (Design Failure Mode & Effect Analysis),
- Analysis of competitor products
- Interact with other R&D teams / leaders within the De’ Longhi group to continually improve, develop and enable consistent high knowledge / best practices
Job Profile
- Master Degree in an engineering discipline (electronic, mechatronic or mechanical engineering) or comparable technical degree
- Minimum 10 years of engineering experience in the area of electro mechanical device development and testing. Ideally within Small Appliance / Consumer Products / Automotive Industry with mass volume manufacturing experiences
- Minimum 5 years of experience in leading technical organisations or larger teams
- International experience (in terms of capability to work in multicultural environments) and experience with OEMs in Asia and other countries
- Proven track records of new product development and successful market introduction
- Solid knowledge of electromechanical devices
- Good knowledge of business administration and value engineering / design to cost
- Experience with Asian & Eastern European suppliers preferable
- High performance entrepreneurship orientation / High learning capability
- Excellent leadership skills
- Strategic, analytical, creative and abstract thinker
- Disciplined team worker / cross functional thinking
- Ability to work across multiple projects despite potential changing circumstances
- Ability to communicate effectively and professionally to convey ideas and opinions to both technical and non-technical colleagues
- Ability to quickly make complex facts clear and easily understandable
- Ability to collaborate and work effectively with team members from all areas of the business
- Languages : English (Fluent mandatory) , Italian
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, we reject and condemn any form of discrimination including discrimination based on age, gender, sexual orientation, health, race, nationality, cultural background, political opinions and religious beliefs, and membership of associations and trade unions.