The Senior Vice President, R&D is an enterprise-level technical executive responsible for defining and executing the organization’s long-term technical direction across innovation, consumer-informed product design, and measurement science capabilities.
This leader ensures that product performance is objectively validated, competitively differentiated, and scientifically defensible. The role establishes the systems, standards, and governance required to translate product design into measurable performance, qualified outcomes, credible claims, consistent quality, and ultimately, consumer trust.
Reporting at the executive level, this position oversees Measurement Sciences, Global Product Stewardship, and Global Quality Assurance. The role integrates deep scientific expertise, strategic business alignment, and strong organizational leadership to build proprietary capabilities, strengthen competitive positioning, and safeguard brand credibility.
This executive serves as the enterprise technical authority, accountable for ensuring products are demonstrably superior, credibly differentiated, and trusted by consumers, customers, and regulators globally.
Core Accountability
Own and continuously improve the end-to-end technical ecosystem that connects:
Product & process design → Measurement & validation → Qualification → Claims substantiation → Quality assurance → Consumer confidence
Key Responsibilities
- Define and lead the organization’s technical strategy across innovation, performance measurement, and consumer-driven product development.
- Establish multi-year technical roadmaps aligned with business priorities and brand strategy.
- Translate consumer needs, usage environments, and competitive dynamics into measurable technical specifications and performance targets.
- Provide executive leadership of Measurement Sciences, ensuring robust, repeatable, and scalable methods across platforms and regions.
- Drive development of proprietary testing methodologies, advanced analytics, and data integration approaches linking laboratory data, real-world usage, and consumer outcomes.
- Ensure integrity, comparability, and strategic use of data to guide portfolio decisions, investment trade-offs, and external communications.
- Advance modern data science capabilities to generate differentiated consumer and product insights.
- Lead the technical framework for external performance claims, including development, validation, risk assessment, and defense.
- Serve as the senior authority on scientific credibility, regulatory alignment, and claim robustness.
- Oversee technical responses to competitive challenges, regulatory inquiries, and third-party reviews, ensuring defensible, fact-based positions.
- Provide strategic oversight of Global Product Stewardship, ensuring compliance with safety, regulatory, and sustainability requirements throughout the product lifecycle.
- Lead Global Quality Assurance governance to maintain consistent standards across development and manufacturing interfaces.
- Establish continuous improvement frameworks that reinforce operational excellence.
- Design and evolve organizational structures across product and process engineering, measurement sciences, technical services, stewardship, and quality functions.
- Define capability frameworks, role clarity, and career pathways for scientists, engineers, and data professionals.
- Build and develop a strong leadership bench through coaching, succession planning, and structured development programs.
- Represent the organization with regulators, scientific institutions, academic partners, and industry forums.
- Develop strategic external partnerships to expand measurement capabilities and access emerging technologies.
- Direct executive leadership of Measurement Sciences, Global Product Stewardship, and Global Quality Assurance.
- Establish enterprise technical standards, governance models, and escalation frameworks related to performance measurement, claims, quality, and product integrity.
Qualifications & Experience
- PhD or equivalent advanced degree in Engineering, Physical Sciences, Materials Science, Measurement Science, Chemistry, or related discipline; strong statistical foundation required.
- 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in R&D, product development, measurement science, quality, or technical governance within a science-driven or regulated industry.
- Deep expertise in experimental design, measurement systems, and advanced analytics.
- Demonstrated experience in external performance claims development, substantiation, and defense.
- Proven success leading large, global, multidisciplinary technical organizations.
- Strong strategic acumen with the ability to translate complex technical topics into actionable business and consumer insights.
- CPG/Consumer Packaged Goods experience is highly preferred.
Leadership Attributes
- Enterprise-minded leader who balances rigor, speed, and risk.
- Recognized technical authority with strong executive presence.
- People-focused leader committed to capability building and career development.
- Collaborative partner across R&D, marketing, legal, regulatory, operations, and supply chain.
- Comfortable operating in ambiguity and driving clarity through disciplined data and insight.
