Director, R&D & Advanced Technologies

Apogee Enterprises, Inc.•Faribault, MN

7d•$160,000 - $175,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, R&D & Advanced Technologies is a working technical leader responsible for the Faribault R&D organization and development of advanced surface technologies. The role calls for deep expertise in PVD sputtering and practical experience with PECVD or related plasma processes. About 50–60% of the position is hands-on: personally leading high-priority development programs, designing and conducting experiments, optimizing processes, solving complex technical problems, and scaling technologies into manufacturing. The remainder focuses on setting R&D priorities, managing the technology portfolio, developing technical talent, and aligning resources with customer, business, and manufacturing needs. The successful candidate is expected to deliver technical outcomes personally and work effectively in the laboratory, manufacturing environment, and leadership setting. The Director leads the Faribault R&D organization, manages development priorities and budgets, and partners across functions and with strategic customers to bring new products and processes to market. The role also develops technical capabilities and talent, champions safety and continuous improvement, and ensures that new technologies meet performance, manufacturability, quality, cost, and customer-value requirements. The position requires working onsite four days each week. The office noise level is generally moderate; the employee frequently interacts with people on the plant floor near moving mechanical parts, where production noise is usually loud. The listed pay range is $160,000–$175,000.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Demonstrated hands-on experience developing, optimizing, and scaling PVD sputtered thin-film coatings in a production-oriented environment, including coating-stack design, deposition-process development, process characterization, and troubleshooting coating-performance challenges.
Practical PECVD/plasma experience.
Demonstrated expertise in PVD sputtering technology and processes.
Demonstrated expertise with PECVD and/or plasma-based deposition and surface-treatment processes.
Ability to personally design, execute, analyze, and interpret technical experiments.
Experience developing and optimizing coating architectures and deposition processes.
Capability in technology development, process optimization, troubleshooting, and manufacturing scale-up.
Strong knowledge of experimental design, root-cause analysis, technical data analysis, and structured problem-solving.
Experience transitioning new technologies from a laboratory or development environment into manufacturing.
Strategic application of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies to drive business outcomes, enhance decision-making, and improve operational efficiency.

Nice To Haves

Advanced technical degree.
Previous leadership of technical professionals.
Experience operating in a manufacturing or commercially oriented R&D organization.
Wet-chemistry coating formulation and application experience.
Thin-film characterization and surface-analysis experience.
Experience with multiple coating and deposition technologies.
Experience in a manufacturing environment where new technologies must transition from development into scalable production.
Ability to operate effectively as both a technical expert and organizational leader.
Strong technical judgment and disciplined decision-making.
Ability to balance hands-on project execution with leadership of multiple development priorities.
Demonstrated ability to develop technical professionals.
Strong cross-functional leadership and influence.
Ability to communicate complex technical concepts effectively to technical and non-technical audiences.
Strong business acumen and ability to connect technical investments to customer and business needs.

Responsibilities

Personally lead one or two priority advanced-technology programs from experimentation through manufacturing implementation.
Design and execute experiments, develop coating architectures, analyze data, optimize processes, and solve complex technical problems.
Apply expertise in PVD sputtering, PECVD/plasma processes, thin films, and advanced surface technologies.
Lead process scale-up, validation, root-cause analysis, and transfer of new technologies into manufacturing.
Maintain a regular presence in the laboratory and manufacturing environment.
Lead the Faribault R&D organization and set priorities aligned with business growth, customer needs, and manufacturing requirements.
Manage the development portfolio, balancing longer-term technology opportunities with near-term commercial priorities.
Establish project objectives, milestones, resource requirements, technical risks, and success criteria.
Provide senior leadership with recommendations on technology opportunities, investments, risks, and development priorities.
Focus resources on initiatives with the greatest strategic and economic value.
Translate customer and market needs into technical requirements, development programs, and technology roadmaps.
Partner with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Sales, Marketing, and Technical Service to commercialize new products and processes.
Engage strategic customers to address complex technical challenges and identify development opportunities.
Build external relationships with suppliers, universities, research organizations, and technology partners.
Ensure new technologies meet requirements for performance, manufacturability, quality, cost, and customer value.
Lead, coach, and develop scientists, chemists, engineers, and technicians.
Build organizational capability in coating, deposition, plasma, materials, analytical, and process-development disciplines.
Strengthen experimental design, structured problem-solving, technical documentation, and knowledge sharing.
Identify critical capability gaps and address them through employee development, recruiting, or external partnerships.
Foster technical rigor, accountability, collaboration, learning, and practical innovation.
Manage R&D operating and capital budgets and prioritize resources based on strategic and business impact.
Establish measurable objectives for development milestones, scale-up, manufacturing transfer, commercialization readiness, cycle time, and technical performance.
Champion safety, disciplined experimentation, knowledge management, and continuous improvement.
Improve R&D productivity while reducing technical risk, waste, process variation, and development cycle time.