R&D Technical Director Europe

A new challenge?
A passion for R&D and technology? Excited about working in an international environment alongside the most innovative minds?
Become our R&D Innovation Director for our resilient vinyl flooring plants in Europe.

Main responsibilities and key tasks

• You will constantly strive to improve existing products, processes and procedures for our resilient cushion vinyl flooring plants. Your goal is to deliver qualitative products in line with market requirements and similarly to create a cost competitive production environment.
• You will proactively come up with new products and processes for the future and elaborates these ideas into practical applications improving our competitive position on the market.
• Together with the team, you will be responsible to translate new ideas and developments into commercial products
• You will be responsible to prepare & deliver business cases for new developments, including potential new CAPEX investments.
• You will be responsible for product and process development, raw material research, innovation projects and will have the expert role for product compliance for Cushion Vinyl. You will execute your role working together with the Cushion Vinyl plants, its operational teams and local process development & R&D engineers. It is your role to leverage your technical expertise and projects across our Cushion Vinyl operations, taking into account the local context.
• You will be responsible for the execution of the Product-Technology roadmap, in which the vision of the new product & existing product generations are defined & mapped according to the customer needs (input received from Sales & Operations), as well as from new technology evolution & developments. The product development strategy is aligned with the overall B.I.G. & BFS targets & co-developed with the Innovation Director BFS & General Managers. You will execute the innovation roadmap on short & medium term projects to ensure the needed business growth & value creation.
• You will share best practices & knowledge between the different plants globally, and lead the technical collaboration between the plants in Belgium and Slovenia. Transfer the strengths from each plant to the others. Pro-actively lead the effort to constantly improve the plants together with the operations team.
• You will be responsible for defining the overall technical strategy for sustainability & timeline breakdown into projects for all sustainability related efforts.
• You will work closely with the Belgian and Slovenian Cushion Vinyl operation and its team in order to lead the product developments in Europe. 

Competencies and skills

• Master degree in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry or Materials Science
• Relevant experience in R&D or product development in an production environment
• Experience in PVC and chemistry
• Passion for technology and innovation
• Experience in process optimization and cost out programs
• Analytical and problem solving skills with a hands-on mentality
• Communicative
• Experience in managing a multicultural, international R&D team and strong leadership skills
• Knowledge of Cushion Vinyl technology is a key asset
• You are fluent in English. Knowledge of Dutch or French is a plus

 
Our offer

• Join an international company, rooted in Belgium
• Find an employer that values your talents
• Work on challenging projects within an innovative environment
• Operate in a hybrid working atmosphere, with the variety and flexibility you need
• Be part of a talent-first mentality, with international career opportunities within reach
• Brush up on your knowledge thanks to our B.I.G. University
• Take care of your physical and mental health with our Energize2Grow program. 
• A very attractive salary, with a numerous additional legal benefits such as medical insurance, pension plan, laptop, meal vouchers, extensive training and career opportunities, company car, bikelease, … 
• The best working atmosphere with the best colleagues