Head of R&D Center

We are looking for an entrepreneurial thinking leadership personality to continuously develop our technology and shift the boundaries of what is possible.

You will take overall responsibility for R&D-Labor, Technikum, R&D Engineering, and Quality Assurance and lead these areas with a clear strategic goal setting:
Improving our technology to explore new feedstocks and markets.

We are not looking for management of the status quo –
but a personality who questions this and develops it goal-oriented.

Your Mission

• Continuous technological development of our technology
• Systematic expansion and approval of new feedstocks
• Building a high-performance, entrepreneurial-led R&D Center
• Identifying IP-relevant technologies
• Transferring results to the first small-scale industrial plant (in development)
• P&L responsibility and active revenue generation

Pushing the boundaries – not finding comfort in the status quo.

Your Responsibility

• Overall leadership of
• • R&D-Labor
  • Technikum / Pilot- & Demoproduction
  • R&D Engineering
• Professional and disciplinary leadership of interdisciplinary teams
• Development of a clear R&D strategy including roadmap, KPIs, and prioritization
• Deduction of hypotheses and test programs from feedstock analyses
• Translation of laboratory and technicum processes into robust, scalable production processes
• Steering of scale-up projects
• Transfer of results to the first small-scale industrial plant, which is currently under development
• Close interface work with
• • Business Development
  • Process Technology
  • Operations
  • External research partners, especially universities
• P&L responsibility for the R&D Center: revenue generation preferred through publicly funded research projects and – in close coordination with Business Development – through commercial use cases
• Representation of the R&D Center externally

Your Profile

• 3-5 years of relevant leadership experience in the chemical or process engineering industry
• Experience in leading R&D-, technicum-, or pilot plants
• Strong process-oriented thinking – you understand how feedstock properties affect plant, operation, and product quality
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a willingness to shape
• Experience in scaling up processes
• Hands-on mentality: you are close to the plant, team, and technology
• Ability to strategically and economically evaluate technical decisions
• Excellent communication skills across technical and hierarchical boundaries
• Very good German and English skills

What makes this role special

• High degree of design freedom with direct influence on the technological future of the company
• Responsibility for a growing, ambitious R&D Center
• Opportunity to define feedstock flexibility actively and technologically explore it
• Short decision-making paths and entrepreneurial environment
• Attractive remuneration package

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