R&D Lead

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead key R&D projects to support business goals.
• Develop concepts, products and solutions by coordinating and collaborating across different departments (e.g. sales, marketing, engineering) to discuss product ideas, improvements and feasibility.
• Oversee and actively participate in the entire development process of new products and programs within the organization, from the initial research/planning phase to process implementation or production i.e. presenting product designs to management and stakeholders, testing prototype products for functionality, ease-of-use etc.
• Stay informed on the Water industry market by conducting market research, evaluating similar products and seeking to understand customers, suppliers and competitors’ expectations, problems and interests.
• Develop research programs incorporating current developments to improve existing products based on industry trends, study the potential of new products and develop new products accordingly to meet the needs of the market.
• Prioritize and allocate resource needs to align with the business needs in both the short and long term, achieving a balance between product growth, productivity, business continuity and quality initiatives.  
• Ensure project execution to achieve performance targets while meeting timing and budget constraints.
• Be present at industry conferences on research topics of interest.
• Work closely with technical partners both in the local Singapore area, as well as across Xylem, to drive new programs of advanced Research and Innovation in areas related to Water technologies.
• Ensure new areas for innovation are translated into new programs for Research, from early stage technical feasibility to demonstration of concepts.
• Measure feature success metrics post innovation and feed learning back to the leadership team.
• Any other duties as assigned.

WORK REQUIREMENTS

• Preferably Master’s degree in a related Engineering or Scientific discipline
• At least 5 years of experience working in R&D within the Water industry (preferably MNC), with demonstrated commercial and technical successes
• Experience with Water treatment technologies and related Water quality analysis, advanced sensors related to Water analysis
• Competency with project management including project planning, issue and risk identification and management, managing budget, tracking dependencies and milestones, and communication of overall project status
• Excellent oral/written communication skills
• Possess good business sense and ability to work cross functionally to collaborate with other technical teams, both inside and outside of the organization
• Strong sense of creativity to think of new product ideas and solve challenging technology problems
•  Hands-on experience in managing or leading a small team of employees
• Self-starter and detail oriented, with strong problem-solving and analytical skills
• Additional experience and/or technical capabilities in related areas would be valuable, such as Network Modelling