Associate Director, Program Portfolio - Research

Bose Corporation, U.S.A•Framingham, MA

About The Position

The Associate Director, Program Portfolio Lead – Research Programs is responsible for designing, managing, and governing the portfolio of advanced research and technology programs that translate Bose Research discoveries into scalable platform capabilities. Bose is building a new generation of intelligent edge technologies spanning perception, sensing, environmental modeling, orchestration, and trusted intelligent systems. These technologies are developed through long-horizon research franchises and must ultimately evolve into deployable platform capabilities that power Bose products, enterprise platforms, and new technology businesses. Within this model, the Program Portfolio Leader ensures that research programs are well-defined, strategically aligned, and executed with discipline across the discovery-to-platform pipeline. Working closely with the Franchise Architects, Bose Research leadership, Corporate Strategy, and the Bose-X team, this role governs the lifecycle of research programs — from initial concept and chartering through technical validation, portfolio prioritization, and transition into platform development. This role is responsible for: structuring the research and technology program portfolio, translating franchise science arcs into executable research programs, managing phased investment decisions and program milestones, ensuring alignment between research initiatives and enterprise platform priorities, and enabling the disciplined translation of research breakthroughs into platform capabilities. The Program Portfolio Leader operates at the intersection of research management, technology strategy, and portfolio governance, ensuring that innovation investment produces durable capabilities rather than fragmented experimentation.

Requirements

10+ years of experience managing complex technical programs, research portfolios, or advanced technology initiatives.
Experience working in environments involving advanced research, deep technology development, or platform engineering.
Demonstrated ability to structure ambiguous technical ideas into well-defined programs with measurable outcomes.
Strong strategic thinking and portfolio management capabilities.
Experience coordinating multidisciplinary technical teams across research, engineering, and product organizations.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain technical programs to senior leadership.
Comfort operating in highly exploratory environments with evolving priorities and uncertain outcomes.

Nice To Haves

Experience managing portfolios of research or advanced technology programs within corporate research labs, advanced technology groups, or platform organizations.
Familiarity with domains such as AI/ML, sensing systems, signal processing, distributed systems, or edge computing.
Experience implementing phased investment models or venture-style program governance.
Background in translating research prototypes into scalable platform capabilities.
Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in engineering, computer science, applied science, or related fields.

Responsibilities

Design and manage the portfolio of research and technology programs that support Bose’s long-term capability franchises.
Ensure that program investments align with enterprise technology priorities, franchise science arcs, and growth opportunities.
Maintain clear visibility into the portfolio, including program scope, milestones, resource allocation, and expected outcomes.
Balance exploration and focus by managing a diversified portfolio of early discovery, technical validation, and capability development programs.
Partner with Franchise Architects and research leaders to translate long-term science arcs into clearly defined research programs.
Develop structured program charters that define research objectives, technical hypotheses, success criteria, milestones and decision gates, and required capabilities and partnerships.
Ensure programs are scoped to produce durable capability layers rather than isolated technical results.
Implement a disciplined, phased funding model for research initiatives.
Define program milestones that support staged investment decisions and resource allocation.
Regularly review portfolio performance and recommend continuation, expansion, pivot, or termination of programs based on progress and strategic relevance.
Provide executive leadership with clear portfolio insights to guide investment decisions.
Work closely with Bose-X and engineering teams to ensure successful transition of validated research capabilities into scalable platform components.
Support the development of deployable primitives, reusable algorithm modules, reference implementations, and platform-ready technology building blocks.
Help ensure that research outputs evolve into enterprise technology platforms, licensable IP, or product capabilities.
Coordinate programs across multiple research franchises to ensure collaboration and avoid duplication.
Identify opportunities where research efforts can converge into shared system capabilities across perception, sensing, orchestration, and trusted systems.
Facilitate communication and alignment across technical leaders and research teams.
Provide clear visibility into program status, risks, and opportunities for senior leadership.
Develop portfolio reviews and strategic assessments that inform enterprise technology investment decisions.
Communicate complex technical programs in a structured, strategic format suitable for executive stakeholders.