R&D Director

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Job Description

Join us as R&D Director, where you will lead and shape a high-impact R&D function supporting our Paints, Sealants, and Waterproofing portfolio across EMEA. In this senior leadership role, you will be responsible for driving innovation, technical excellence, and regulatory compliance while ensuring R&D activity is tightly aligned to business strategy and commercial priorities.

You will lead a team of experienced technical professionals, own the innovation pipeline and technology roadmap, and act as the organisation's senior technical authority. Working closely with Marketing, Sales, Operations, Manufacturing, Quality, Legal, and external partners, you will translate market needs and emerging technology into differentiated, scalable, and compliant products.

As a visible and trusted leader, you will guide strategic decision-making, mentor technical talent, and represent the business externally across industry bodies, universities, and innovation networks.

Responsibilities

R&D Leadership & Team Management

• Lead, manage, and develop the R&D organisation, supporting 17 employees with 2 direct reports.
• Align, track, and report R&D KPIs in line with business objectives.
• Ensure projects are delivered on time, to agreed specifications, and in line with business expectations.
• Act as a coach and mentor to direct reports and as a recognised technical expert across the business.
• Ensure the smooth, safe, and compliant operation of the R&D laboratory.

Market, Technology & Regulatory Insight

• Monitor the wider coatings market for trends, innovations, and competitive activity.
• Maintain awareness of developments across competitors, suppliers, conferences, industry bodies (CEPE, BCF, RSC), and technical literature.
• Stay up to date with the evolving regulatory landscape and translate changes into clear technical and business actions.

Innovation Pipelines & Technology Roadmaps

• Build and own technical pipelines, innovation roadmaps, and formulation platforms.
• Lead innovation scouting activities based on market and customer understanding.
• Leverage global technology platforms to maximise scale, speed, and margin.
• Partner closely with Marketing and regional stakeholders to implement new technologies, accelerate time-to-market, and deliver competitive advantage.

Technical Training & Business Support

• Provide technical training and support to non-technical Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service teams.
• Deliver technical presentations and respond to complex technical questions from internal teams and customers.
• Act as a trusted technical authority supporting customer engagement and issue resolution.

Funding, University Partnerships & Intellectual Property

• Act as the main contact for government funding and grant opportunities.
• Lead and manage collaborations with universities and research institutions.
• Work with Legal and wider stakeholders to develop, protect, and optimise the intellectual property portfolio, supporting both local and global technology platforms.

Manufacturing & Quality Support

• Support manufacturing optimisation using expert formulation knowledge and tools such as DOE.
• Optimise formulations for efficient manufacture, robustness, and lowest total cost.
• Support quality investigations and root-cause analysis in partnership with Operations and Quality teams.

General Responsibilities

• Maintain company property and records securely.
• Adhere to all company policies, including Health & Safety.
• Complete all mandatory training and represent the company professionally.

Qualifications

We're seeking an experienced and credible R&D leader with deep coatings expertise, strong people leadership skills, and the ability to translate science into commercial impact.

Education & Experience

• Required: BSc in Chemistry or BEng in Chemical Engineering.
• Preferred: Higher degree with experience in polymers and coatings.
• Required: Minimum 10 years' experience within the coatings industry.
• Preferred: Experience in water-based architectural coatings or water-based wood coatings.

Technical Expertise

• Water-based coating formulation.
• Water-based polymer and resin design.
• Deep understanding of coatings raw materials.
• Six Sigma methodology.
• Preferred: Adhesives formulation or solvent-based formulation experience.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Proven experience leading and developing high-performing technical teams.
• Strong coaching, mentoring, and stakeholder-management capability.
• Ability to influence cross-functional partners across Marketing, Sales, Manufacturing, Quality, and Legal.
• Confident communicator who can translate complex technical topics into clear business outcomes.

Personal Attributes

• Strategic, curious, and innovation-driven.
• Commercially aware, with strong prioritisation and decision-making skills.
• Resilient, proactive, and accountable.
• A role model for safety, compliance, and corporate values.

If you're ready to make an impact and grow with a dynamic team, we'd love to hear from you!

Location: Sheffield Office / Plant

Hybrid Working: 3 days in office, 2 days from home

Our offer to you...

• Attractive salary
• Company bonus scheme
• Private medical insurance for yourself and family
• Life Pension Scheme Company Contributed
• Continued payment of salary in the event of sickness & 25 days of annual leave
• Work-life balance
• Career opportunities
• Ongoing training and support

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About Us

At Sherwin-Williams, our purpose is to inspire and improve the world by coloring and protecting what matters. Our paints, coatings and innovative solutions make the places and spaces in our world brighter and stronger. Your skills, talent and passion make it possible to live this purpose, and for customers and our business to achieve great results. Sherwin-Williams is a place that takes its stability, growth and momentum and translates it to possibility for our people. Our people are behind the strength of our success, and we invest and support you in:

Life ... with rewards, benefits and the flexibility to enhance your health and well-being
Career ... with opportunities to learn, develop new skills and grow your contribution
Connection ... with an inclusive team and commitment to our own and broader communities
It's all here for you... let's Create Your Possible

Eligibility to Work
You will need to provide proof of right to work. It is a condition of any offer of employment we make to you that you have the permission to work in the country for the role for which you are applying for.

Equal Opportunity Employer
An equal opportunity employer, all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against based on race, colour, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnic or national origin, disability, age pregnancy or maternity, marital or civil partner status, or any other protected characteristic prohibited by law.

Please be aware, Sherwin-Williams recruiting team members will never request a candidate to provide a payment, ask for financial information, or sensitive personal information like national identification numbers, date of birth, or bank account numbers during the application process.