Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE: AVY) is a global materials science and manufacturing company specializing in the design and manufacture of a wide variety of labeling and functional materials. The company’s products, which are used in nearly every major industry, include pressure-sensitive materials for labels and graphic applications; tapes and other bonding solutions for industrial, medical and retail applications; tags, labels and embellishments for apparel; and radio-frequency identification (RFID) solutions serving retail apparel and other markets. Headquartered in Glendale, California, the company employs approximately 30,000 employees in more than 50 countries. Reported sales in 2018 were $7.2 billion. Learn more at www.averydennison.com.

Avery Dennison is an equal opportunity employer.

Scope:

The VP R&D will provide vision and innovation direction to the North American R&D organization in product development, adhesive development, pilot plant and analytical and test services for the North American Label & Graphic Materials (LGM-NA) business of Avery Dennison. The successful leader will contribute to the top line innovation sales and profit objectives for new product growth on the basis of innovative and competitive new value propositions and hold accountability to achieve cost-out and material re-engineering targets. The position reports solid line into the Global VP R&D of Label & Graphics Materials and with a strong dotted line to the VP/GM of North America.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop both short term and long term strategy for R&D NA

• Key member of the LGM-NA (LT) and WW R&D leadership teams (TILT)

• Create an innovative, entrepreneurial, agile, accountable, customer-centric culture

• Controls annual operating budget, trial budget, capital execution and has accountability for R&D          

Drive the Innovation Portfolio : Growth (24 months Horizon), Re-engineering/Cost-out ( 1 y horizon), and Business Continuity projects ( months horizon) 

• Full responsibility for the portfolio and continue to optimize the management process; introduce growth portfolio leadership to provide insight into prioritization, risk, cost and value of each project in the portfolio; execute decisions with a strategic perspective. 

• Ensure a robust idea and project pipeline both protecting the Core business and the High value segment ; in part by extending existing technology platforms and also transferring new products and technologies across regions (strong linkage to Marketing, Sustainability and Procurement roadmap)

• Champion the stage gate process and provide direction during project reviews to ensure delivery to objectives 

• Ensure a robust process and tools are in place to enable for cross functional project management and execution.

Drive Innovation Roadmap/Strategy

• Provide Leadership to the development and execution of technology roadmaps with Marketing and work with global/regional R&D counterparts to ensure global alignment

•  Identify and evaluate opportunities for growth in new or adjacent markets; evaluate technologies being considered for licensing and/or acquisition

• Collaborate with Product Management and Sales to link commercial needs and customer opportunities with our project portfolio and technology roadmaps

• Work with Operations and Engineering leadership to ensure alignment of goals and priorities and provide input to manufacturing capability needs vs new technology

•  Continuously collaborate across functions in the preparation and execution of short /long term business strategies, through Annual Operating Plan (AOP), 5 year Strategy plan, and Strategy Plan deployment
   

Build Organization Capabilities

• Maintain a strong focus on the “people plan”. Continue to develop the team’s technical depth and customer knowledge; recruit, hire, coach and develop elite R&D talent

• Foster an environment of Inclusions and drive high levels of  employee engagement within the R&D team 

• Laser focus on succession planning, coaching and mentoring talent to build a robust internal pipeline 

• Develop key relationships with stakeholders across Avery Dennison and within the industry to assist in setting strategy for R&D; drive outside partnerships and engage in collaborative interactions within the broader ecosystem: suppliers, customers, outside regulatory agencies, academia, suppliers and OEMs to advance organizational objectives

• Maintain health of the Community of Practice and facilitate the development of our key R&D staff and expert across the Network

•  Work with Legal to maintain IP portfolio and budget. Participate on the IP steering committee to ensure IP portfolio is properly representing the needs of the business and drives margin extraction through protection of technology differentiation. Ensure protection of proprietary information, and secure ownership and/or privileged access to innovations that will be critical to customers in the future.

• 10-15 years experience as a Technology Leader in Pressure sensitive or adjacent industries

• Successful history building, motivating and inspiring a highly skilled technical team, applying strategic thinking, and executing effectively to deliver a track record of sustained accomplishments.

• Advanced degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science or relevant science/engineering discipline. BS is a requirement or equal equivalent. MS/Ph.D. is preferred.

• Demonstrates effective change leadership across functions and regions; exhibits a hands-on, non-bureaucratic leadership style that fosters open and frequent communication at all levels of the organization.

• Experienced and comfortable dealing with all levels of a matrix organization and leading primarily through influence.

• Experience from idea generation to product commercialization, including the implementation of global technology platforms & agile stage gate.

• Biased for action and shows healthy initiative in developing new growth opportunities.

• Experienced in building business cases, crafting and executing experiments including customer evaluations, scaling-up new products including A3 thinking.

• Superior strategic and analytical skills, excellent presentation and listening skills.

• Able to translate business goals into R&D objectives, plans and deliverable's; is able to organize and implement R&D strategies and tactics.

• Demonstrates cross functional leadership capabilities and the strong ability to motivate peers, direct reports and the broader organization. Displays boundaryless curiosity.

• Displays a high degree of integrity demonstrated by delivering commitments made and eliciting the same accountability for innovation across the company.    

*** Please note*** Internal candidates are encouraged to apply and will be considered if they meet the minimum job requirements.  The role may be a Senior Director or Vice President position, depending on the successful candidate's skills, abilities and experience.

Who we are! - Our Story:

AVERY DENNISON IS EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK:

• We not only embrace change… we drive it. 
• We work hard, push hard, and take brave risks.
• Our culture is innovative and collaborative - where bold ideas turn into action.
• We grow strong talent through stretch opportunities only restricted by your interests.
• We are committed to workplace diversity, both for employees and for the business.
• We are a force for good, imbedded in industries and communities worldwide.
• We are challenging ourselves and others to reach higher and think bigger to improve the quality of all life.

Avery Dennison is a great place to work for everyone.

We offer:

• Workplace Flexibility
• Structured learning and development
• Mentoring program
• Competitive total rewards

At Avery Dennison we do what we love and we love what we do.

We do not accept unsolicited referrals or resumes from any source other than directly from candidates using their personal email addresses.