R&D- Technical Manager (Industrial Wood)

The Industrial Wood Laboratory is seeking a Technical Manager to lead the development and commercialization efforts for new and existing products designed for OEM Industrial Wood customers. This individual will work closely with Industrial Wood Sales and Marketing to identify the needs and timelines for product development projects and will coordinate project activities with all the pertinent functions within Sherwin-Williams.

Job duties include contact with other employees and access to confidential and proprietary information and/or other items of value, and such access may be supervised or unsupervised. The Company therefore has determined that a review of criminal history is necessary to protect the business and its operations and reputation and is necessary to protect the safety of the Company’s staff, employees, and business relationships.

20% Travel

Technology Leadership

• It is fully accountable for the portfolio of technical programs and projects specifically in support of large OEM Industrial Wood Products.
• Leads and implements a customer-centric culture for innovative solutions, execution excellence, and continuous improvement.
• Translates the technology strategy and objectives into tactical operational deliverables and holds the technical team accountable for implementing and enforcing goals and objectives.
• Collaborates with businesses and cross functional leaders to anticipate, identify, and assess emerging industry trends, business opportunities, and potential value creation and optimization generated from innovation and continuous improvement.
• Drives customer focus and technical relationship plans for key OEM manufacturers, internal customers and takes direct responsibility for customer satisfaction and business retention.
• Can oversee high-quality execution of multiple projects under intense demand for short-term solutions.

Talent Development

• Coaches and develops the team and defines career growth paths. Identifies skill gaps and creates targeted developmental plants. Provides direct, timely feedback and addresses performance issues by implementing actionable developmental plans.
• Enables, leads by example, and influences a culture of innovation and technical excellence that leverages deep customer and market insights, technologies, and methods.
• Empowers, models desired behavior, and influences a culture of belonging and engagement along with a positive and collaborative work environment.
• Identifies the critical skills and knowledge required for successful job performance; champions the recognition of the best contributors; identifies/removes barriers to performance.
• Overall accountability for ensuring timely and appropriate performance communication is delivered and is aligned with individual and business performance success factors.
• Responsible for resource output optimization across work type and time horizon for the segment.
• Models calm and steadfast leadership to the team during times of uncertainty and quickly changing priorities; supports and guides the team through challenging technical projects under intense pressure and timing constraints.

Minimum Requirements

• Must be legally authorized to work in the country for which you are applying for employment (without now or in the future needing sponsorship for employment work visa and/or permanent residence status)
• Must be at least 18 years of age
• Must have a bachelor’s degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (“STEM”) field
• 8 years of experience in coating formulation and applications
• 5 years of experience in managing/supervising direct report(s) experience in people development
• Customer-facing interaction experience
• Experience with successful product development and launch

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business related field
• Knowledge or experience in industrial paint formulations and processing
• DFFS/Lean Green Belt and/or Kepner-Tregoe expertise
• Formulation expertise
• Experience of industrial applications (e.g., curtain coating, DRC, vacuum coating)
• Wood composite (e.g., fiber cement, OSB) knowledge in manufacturing and/or coating

Successful candidate will be required to sign an Employee Restrictive Covenant Agreement where permitted by law.