Senior Director, Standards & Technical Engagement

Association-For-Materials-Protection-and-Performance; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

AMPP seeks a Senior Director, Standards & Technical Engagement to steer the portfolio strategy, enhance technical quality, and drive global adoption of standards. You will lead Standards Operations and Technical Engagement, coordinating with researchers, knowledge management, and cross-functional leaders to deliver value to members and stakeholders.

Travel 25-35% is expected. You will manage a volunteer-intensive function, engage with committees, and position AMPP’s standards alongside APIs,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, science, business, association management, or a related field is required.
• Advanced degree preferred with demonstrated leadership experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead portfolio strategy and ensure quality standards across AMPP's portfolio.
• Develop and drive adoption of global standards; manage collaboration with volunteers and industry partners.
• Oversee Standards Operations and Technical Engagement functions and monitor KPIs.
• Collaborate with other departments to align technical programs with organizational goals.
• Travel 25-35% to support global standards development and stakeholder engagement.

Skills

Leadership

Standards management

Strategic planning

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering, science, business, association management, or related field

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

AI tools

Job description

Job DetailsJob Location: Houston, TX - Houston, TX 77084

SUMMARY

The Senior Director, Standards & Technical Engagement is responsible for the strategic strength, technical quality, market relevance, global adoption, and long-term value of AMPP’s standards portfolio. The role also leads the effective management and continuous improvement of AMPP’s Technical Advancement functions, including Standards Operations and Technical Engagement. The Senior Director ensures these functions operate efficiently, align with organizational priorities, and deliver meaningful value to members, volunteers, industry stakeholders, and customers.

This role oversees one of the organization’s most volunteer-intensive functions, engaging a body of members and non-members who participate in standards committees and working groups. The Senior Director will bring a global standards-development perspective to AMPP's programs and ensure AMPP's standards remain competitive with other standards-development organizations (e.g., API, ISO, ASTM, ANSI, SAE).

Working closely with the Chief Intelligence & Innovation Officer and cross-functional leaders, this position partners with the research, technology, and knowledge management functions within the same team to support the development, implementation, and advancement of technical programs, standards development activities, technical engagement efforts, and knowledge-driven initiatives that further AMPP’s mission as a global leader in materials protection and performance.

The Senior Director leads the Standards and Technical Engagement teams and is responsible for building and sustaining the world’s most authoritative, practical, modern, and widely adopted portfolio of materials protection and performance standards.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND REPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

Portfolio Strategy & Standards Quality

• Establish and enforce standards for quality across the portfolio, ensuring requirements are clear, necessary, verifiable, technically defensible, and globally applicable, with appropriate separation of mandatory requirements from advisory or commentary language.
• Proactively identify gaps between AMPP’s current standards portfolio and emerging industry and market needs and drive the development of new standards to address them ahead of competing organizations.
• Reduce standards development and revision cycle times while maintaining technical rigor and consensus-based process integrity.
• Drive measurable growth in the adoption and citation of AMPP standards in owner specifications, engineering requirements, procurement documents, regulations, and industry practices worldwide.
• Strengthen the connection between standards, specifications, education, certification, and accreditation so these function as an integrated AMPP system rather than independent activities.
• Drive international participation, relevance, recognition, harmonization, and global adoption of AMPP standards as a core performance outcome of this role.
• Lead competitive intelligence and portfolio strategy to identify market opportunities, portfolio gaps, competitive threats, and partnership priorities, while driving standards-related revenue growth through effective positioning and distribution strategies.
• Lead the evolution of AMPP's standards toward structured, machine-readable, searchable, and interconnected formats that can be consumed by digital and AI systems.

Volunteer & Stakeholder Leadership

• Steward volunteer technical expertise as a strategic asset by maximizing its value and minimizing unnecessary demands on committee volunteers.
• Build and sustain productive relationships with volunteers, committee leaders, industry representatives, academic institutions, government agencies, and other external stakeholders.
• Represent AMPP on technical committees, industry forums, and external working groups as appropriate.

Organizational & Team Leadership

• Collaborate with the Chief Intelligence & Innovation Officer to implement Technical Advancement strategies and operational plans.
• Lead and support the team in accomplishing departmental goals, professional development objectives, and organizational priorities.
• Serve as a member of the senior leadership team, contributing to organization-wide strategic planning, and represent the Chief Intelligence & Innovation Officer on relevant internal and external matters as needed.
• Foster collaboration across departments to ensure alignment of technical programs with broader organizational goals.
• Partner with internal departments to support product development, educational initiatives, publications, events, research activities, advocacy efforts, and member engagement activities.

Operations & Administration

• Direct the day-to-day operations of Standards Operations and Technical Engagement functions.
• Support the planning, execution, and evaluation of technical projects that align with AMPP's strategic objectives.
• Monitor program performance and key performance indicators, recommending improvements to enhance efficiency, quality, and member value.
• Manage operational budgets and resources within assigned areas of responsibility.
• Collaborate with key stakeholders to apply data, artificial intelligence, automation, and emerging technologies that enhance technical operations, organizational effectiveness, and member service.
• Ensure compliance with applicable policies, procedures, governance requirements, and industry best practices.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Success in this role will be measured by portfolio quality, standards-development speed, adoption and citation growth, global reach and participation, volunteer engagement and effectiveness, standards-related revenue growth, competitive position relative to peer standards-development organizations, and innovation in standards delivery and format.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization’s policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

QualificationsQUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

25-35% travel is expected for this role and a passport is required.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, science, business, association management, or a related field required. Advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum of 10-15 years of progressive leadership or management experience in technical operations, standards development, association management, or a related field, including demonstrated experience managing other people-managers or multi-team functions.
• Demonstrated track record of materially improving, growing, modernizing, or repositioning a standards portfolio or comparable technical program.
• Strong business acumen with experience developing commercial or competitive strategy within a standards-development or related market.
• Technical knowledge of an industry served by AMPP's standards (e.g., pipelines, energy sector) preferred.
• Experience working with volunteer-led committees or governance structures at scale within a standards-development organization or a corporate/government standards function preferred. Global standards-development experience strongly preferred.
• Strong business acumen and operations management experience with P&L responsibilities.
• Strong knowledge or experience with leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) tools and resources.
• Demonstrated experience managing teams, projects, budgets, and cross-functional initiatives.
• Knowledge of and ability to work with diverse cultures.
• CAE designation or association management experience is desirable.

MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Has senior management responsibility leading and supervising the Manager of Technical Standards and the Manager of Technical Operations, along with their respective teams, ensuring aligned execution across both functions. Carries out management responsibilities in accordance with the organization’s policies and applicable laws. He/She should demonstrate a strong leadership presence, professional and personal confidence, maturity and other qualities and characteristics to represent the organization. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

Key to the success of the person in this position is:

• Champion AMPP’s culture, lead by example and hold others accountable
• Self-confidence and self-motivation, strategic thinker while being attentive to the detail and goal-oriented.
• Strong entrepreneurial skills and business acumen to identify opportunities that advance the mission of the organization and increase revenue for AMPP.
• Ability to successfully balance operational management and strategic leadership, doing what it takes to get the job done.
• Comfortable with operating in and leading in an environment of disruption and change.
• Comfortable working with a high degree of autonomy and responsibility
• An open, accessible leadership style encouraging free exchange of ideas, including differing points of view, and cross functional innovation and collaboration.
• A leader who is dedicated to the mission of AMPP and is committed to providing quality programs and achieving excellence in everything they do.
• Results oriented and creative problem solver.
• Highest degree of ethics and integrity.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Executive-level written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to interpret complex technical and regulatory information and engage diverse senior stakeholders.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to sit. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, and the ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN EMPLOYMENT

It is the policy of AMPP to provide equal opportunity in employment for all persons, and to recruit, select, train, promote, retain, and discipline without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, pregnancy, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, and local laws.