PRODUCT TECHNOLOGY MANAGER / Visé

Issue Date : 18/01/2010

 

Knauf Insulation Ltd. (KI) is growing rapidly geographically, in terms of turnover and in the breadth of markets it covers. This has lead to a need for a new incumbent to co-ordinate new product development and certification across the KI European glasswool plants (Europe and CIS). The position will also provide limited support to product application development and, on occasions, will require some involvement in similar activities in the stone mineral wool and foam insulation businesses.

 

 

REPORTING TO

KEY OBJECTIVES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Description

The Product Technology Manager (PTM) will have responsibility for heading up all the new product development within the glass mineral wool business in Europe and for liaising with his/her direct equivalent in Knauf Insulation North America. On occasions, the responsibility will extend to provision of support to new or modified applications as required by the local business teams. Whilst the main responsibility is for glass mineral wool product development, there may be some involvement in stone mineral wool product and applications development in the UK (in relation to the plant in Queensferry (North Wales) and occasionally in foam product and applications support. As the great majority of KI products need to be certified to the relevant EU and/or local performance/quality standards, an additional important responsibility is to initiate, monitor and control the certification process to ensure that effective certification is delivered on time and to budget. Consequently, experience in new product development in general (and ideally in building product development would be a major advantage. Similarly, prior experience in national and/or European production certification processes would be beneficial.

An important element of the role of the PTM is to liaise with the Product Group Manager (Glass Mineral Wool) and regional product/market managers in order to co-ordinate new product development requests and to play an important part in running a the New Product and Applications Development programme which is being launched at the time of writing. This will require good organisation and interpersonal skills in discussing and setting priorities and a forceful personality will be required in order to challenge local interests in favour of the best interests of the company overall.

The position also carries the additional responsibility of being the main custodian of the database of glass mineral wool properties and performance and, as such, being the main source of knowledge within the company on such issues as thermal conductivity and measurement, fire performance, mechanical properties, durability, acoustic performance, water repellency and many others.

Reporting to the Product & Process Development Director (Europe)

WORK EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

 

The person we seek will be at ease when dealing with senior management, plant technical staff, senior marketing managers and outside certification institutes and organisations.

Good interpersonal skills will be required to deal with disparate organisations and to balance conflicting priorities. The successful person will probably have had 8 - 10 years experience of working either in new product development or in product certification. The person needs to have a good technical background and interest in technology - specific knowledge/experience of the insulation industry in particular or the building industry in general would be a significant advantage but are not absolutely essential.

 

The position carries direct responsibility for around 7 technologists and technicians (some in Belgium and some in the UK) of varying levels of experience and qualification and so some experience of people management would be a significant advantage.

Just as important as technical ability and interpersonal skills is the ability to operate effectively as part of an international team, bridging cultural differences and showing a friendly and helpful attitude to colleagues and customers alike.

Education

The person will hold a university degree in a building-related discipline (building science, architecture or similar) or less ideally, in a scientific discipline (preferably physics, chemistry or materials science). Whilst a degree level education is highly preferable, an exception might be made for a candidate with extremely relevant experience at a relatively senior level in insulation product technology, new product development or product certification.

Languages

Fluency, or near fluency, in English and French is a prime requirement. Any other language - especially German - will be an asset.

Location

The role will be based either in Visé (near Liege), Belgium or in St.Helens (UK, mid-way between Manchester and Liverpool). Substantial international travelling will be required, mainly within Europe but on occasionally beyond. It is anticipated that the travel element may be in the region of 30% on average but that journeys will generally be of fairly short duration - typically one to two days

 

What we offer you

Remuneration will be attractive and certainly sufficient to motivate a highly qualified candidate consisting of a competitive base salary and a bonus plus usual company benefits.

Outlook

The company's growth will inevitably create significant opportunities to progress for an individual demonstrating excellent skills and the desire and potential to progress to more senior positions.

REQUIRED LANGUAGES

Anglais : parlé couramment

Français : parlé couramment