Head of R&D Regional

Flintex Consulting Pte Ltd; Singapore; On-site; SGD 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology consulting firm in Singapore is looking for a Head of R&D APAC to lead strategic product development across the region. The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of experience, including at least 5 years in R&D. They will manage product development responsibilities, foster innovation, and ensure collaboration among regional teams. A Master's degree in Engineering is required, and a PhD or MBA is desirable. This position also entails 30% travel.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10+ years of experience, including 5 years in R&D roles.
• Expectations of innovative thinking backed by publications or patents.
• Willingness to travel 30%.

Responsibilities

• Lead and optimize product development activities in APAC.
• Develop a collaborative model between APAC R&D sites.
• Manage heads of three R&D teams functionally.

Skills

Innovative thinking

Leadership skills

Commercial acumen

Negotiation abilities

Expertise in product development

Strong communication skills in English

Education

Master's degree in Engineering

PhD (desirable)

Professional management degree (MBA or equivalent)

Job description

Overview

Job Information: Work Experience 5+ years; Salary: SGD 1300 - SGD 1800; City: Singapore; State/Province: Central Singapore; Postal code: 079903.

Job Description

Position Summary: This role functionally leads, coordinates and optimizes product development activities within the APAC region, focusing on the company’s R&D centers in Singapore, India, Korea and China. The Head of R&D APAC ensures project-appropriate usage of R&D competencies within the region to locate projects where expertise and capacities are available, extends R&D capabilities in APAC with global understanding by new engineering competencies and digital engineering excellence, and establishes best-in-class processes to develop highly optimized standard products with optimized development times. It supports regional product management and global product cluster managers in building a strong product portfolio and pursues innovative offerings beyond the core. Depending on the applicant, the Head of R&D APAC may also lead a local R&D team functionally, but the emphasis is on strong regional leadership based on collaboration and innovation management methods. The role reports to 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
• Develop and execute a robust collaborative model between the major APAC R&D sites for standard product development
• Provide leadership for cross-functional regional teams, ensuring synergy and alignment on both technological level and business objectives
• Take over product development responsibility for Singapore
• R&D Strategy Deployment
• Translate requirements from the 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
• Establish and foster a mature PD setup for standard product development and implement research and advanced technology capabilities in the region, e.g., by fostering collaborations with universities, associations and expert groups
• Strongly support customer-specific projects with regional R&D expertise to be fast and reactive to customer projects
• Identify needed R&D competencies within the region and establish R&D competence centers
• Foster the existing collaborative model within the region and develop it further with the global concept of 5 Years Integrated Roadmapping (5YIR) and strong alignment between Sales – Product Management – Product Development
• Support the global approach for driving a technology roadmap within the 5YIR; make APAC-related R&D projects transparent and trackable
• Implement Product & Innovation KPIs and bring the APAC perspective into the process-oriented redesign of the company at the product development level
• 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 region functionally
• Responsible for standard product development in the main region with a 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 including engineers and managers within the region
• Continuously develop team capabilities through training and mentorship in 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 other proof of innovative thinking expected
• This role requires 30% travel

Required Skills

• Innovative thinking, close to technology and innovation management-based methods, and driven to identify new business opportunities from market pull and tech push
• Strong leadership and people management skills; experience as project leader preferred
• Excellent commercial acumen and negotiation abilities
• Expertise in product development (both standard product development and research if possible)
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal in English