Mission and Key Tasks

Job purpose
Leads the technical stream of selected product development projects in the Adultcare category through the stage-gate process. Create customized / differentiated products in close relation with Ontex commercial and operational teams. Support commercial organization with product expertise in the category. Build and maintain business relationships with strategic suppliers and external organizations and provide expert knowledge and analyses.

Main responsibilities and key tasks

• Adultcare focused
• Leads the technical stream of multiple product development or customer specific product development projects in Adult care in different regions
• Responsible to create and communicate the project planning and maintains it in masterplan tool
• Responsible to defend capex and opex for project and follows up
• Supports the head of product development in technical feasibility studies of new requests (cost, capex, timing, resources in-outside R&D) enabling creation of business case for project approval
• Delivers timely specific projects from the region product initiative masterplan
• Delivers timely specific projects from the customer product initiative plan
• In the project responsible to avoid any third party infringement by very close interaction with legal functions
• Delivers fully documented product / raw mat specification for each new project
• Present on a regular base project status and future plans in internal meetings, as well as for external partners, and key customers
• Support other functions by providing expert knowledge short-term, e.g. related to quality problems, customer requests - meetings, or operational issues
• Guarantees the project executions are done according to the right processes

Job complexity and challenges

Product complexity:

• Extensive product portfolio affected: different core platforms plus special components/features, large variety of materials, all different sizes, tailor-made solutions for key customers

Technical complexity:

• Amount of production lines, comprising different technical platforms

Business complexity:

• Multifunctional role: interactions with various internal functions – engineering, IT, procurement, operations, supply chain, marketing, sales, IP
• Truly international scope, including multi-cultural interactions both internally and with suppliers and business partners from around the globe
• Different routes to market coming with specific requirements and boundary conditions

Key challenges:

• Interplay between new product concepts and machine technology: big pressure from operations to maintain or even improve line speed and efficiency after conversion to new concepts
• Very stringent BOM cost limitations for new developments
• Short innovation cycles creating significant time pressure for running developments, and for a pipeline filled with future innovations
• Identify opportunities for new products and services to extend the present portfolio, generate new business opportunities and create added value for customers
• Product and process limitations due to intellectual property rights owned by other players
• Very challenging time-to-market requirements, which are difficult to match with the iterative process that is inherent to serious development activities
• Limited availability of machine resources for production trials, due to typically high occupancy of running production lines

Accountability and scope factors

• The role delivers Adultcare product development projects according to the set plans
• The role supports to ensure that product development process is compliant to ISO9001, ISO14001, ISO 50001, ISO 13485, retail and customer standards.

Target: no major fall out during external and internal audit on an annual basis

Background and Experience

Job requirements
Educational:

• Master or university diploma degree in natural science, or engineering
• Broad scientific and technical scope. Good knowledge in statistics
• Additional knowledge of Six Sigma would be an asset
• Excellent English (oral + written) is mandatory

Experience:

• Minimum of 3 years in R&D
• Minimum of 3 years in hygiene, nonwoven or related business.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in a multi-cultural, international environment
• Solid knowledge about all types of disposable absorbent products, raw materials, and production processes

Competencies:

• Excellent analytical and organizational skills
• Self-dependent and scientific way of working
• Strong decision-making ability
• Both visionary and results oriented
• Strong communication skills. Very good presentation skills
• Very good team-working skills, openness to cooperate within the entire organization