Director, Technical Innovation

Camelbak

Full-time

On-site

Petaluma, CA, USA

CamelBak is passionate about improving the outdoor experience through hydration; striving to make the planet a better place for all of its inhabitants through our work in sustainability and clean water access. We're inspired by the ever-changing needs of the diverse outdoor community and are driven to be the first to meet them. We get excited about solving problems and taking on seemingly impossible challenges.

We are looking for a Director, Technical Innovation to join our talented team. In this role, you will lead the global lifestyle category (hardgoods as a primary focus) in the overall strategy, accountability, product specific strategy, and product requirement. You will drive cross-functional relationships and decisions along the holistic product lifecycle for all existing and new product initiatives.

This position reports to the Vice President - Product, Innovation and Design and is based out of our Petaluma, CA office.

As the Director of Technical Innovation, you will have an opportunity to:

Align CamelBak’s Product Engineering organization (Design Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Laboratory & Materials Engineering) with the company’s forward-looking business model, optimizing resources, providing leadership and support to the teams, and building the organization.
Guide early stages of product development through the implementation stages of production and beyond.
Lead the innovation process from ideation, development, and implementation for new technologies, materials, and functionality in support of overall product and brand strategies.
Identify and establish partnership with select technology providers and existing suppliers to complement internal development of product design and technologies.
Work collaboratively with the Product Management and Insights teams to develop proper research protocols to help guide the development of new products and technologies.
Drive standards and processes as a thought leader to improve delivery methodologies, systems, and efficiency across various business lines of products and product development.
Champion a team environment amongst different disciplines and locations to meet project and team goals.
Foster individual ownership of project tasks/delivery of the technical teams and leaders of those teams and assist where needed to ensure project success.
Lead technical teams to proper execution of existing stage gate development processes.
Ensure progress against the product roadmap and launch timing through the project lifecycle.
Plan, develop and implement team initiatives, metrics and goals with an eye towards improved speed to market, design acceptance, and continuous improvement.
Formulate research and product development projects with a focus on innovation, quality, safety, effectiveness and profitability.
Plan, prioritize, accurately resource and budget all technical activities in support of the annual business plan.
Work collaboratively with Product Management and other cross-functional groups to develop new product plans and strategies for innovation.
Work with Operations and QA (including suppliers/partners) to ensure new products are of the highest quality and readily manufacturable.
Manage CamelBak’s Technical Innovation team (5 members + future expansion) in prioritizing and executing strategic new product initiatives.
Drive complex projects to successful completion on time.

You have:

Bachelor’s degree in applied science or engineering with equivalent work experience in both innovation and technical categories.
5+ years working in an environment with hard/soft goods.
10+ years related experience in research and development with minimum five (5) years in a Product Development management role with responsibility for multiple departments (ideally including engineering, manufacturing and innovation).
5+ years working with plastics.
Demonstrated history of business success across multiple departments including engineering and innovation.
Knowledge of applicable federal and state consumer product regulations.
Strong communication skills with the ability to present and communicate at all levels.

We offer a highly competitive salary, comprehensive benefits including: medical and dental, vision, disability and life insurance, 401K, PTO, tuition reimbursement, gear discounts and the ability to add value to an exciting mission!

Equal Opportunity Employer Minorities/Females/Protected Veteran/Disabled

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This job is closed.