Senior Manager, R&D Ecosystem

Position Overview:

The Senior Manager, R&D Ecosystem Development is responsible for identifying and creating strategic external global partnerships with universities, research institutes and companies with complementary capabilities and/or technical competencies outside Novelis core business to accelerate the pace of innovation in aluminum flat rolled products and recycling. Leveraging the external ecosystem in a focused manner and building partnerships is critical to the speed and depth of innovation.

The ideal candidate must possess the scientific and technological depth and breadth to credibly discuss opportunities with external partners, assess and establish formal partnerships through contracts or agreements, and be accountable for creating and maintaining such partnerships. In order to be successful, the incumbent must be able to connect with senior and highly accomplished scientists in their fields, being able to evaluate scientific merits of collaboration opportunities, and make final decisions on partners that will enable acceleration for R&D.

To identify appropriate partners, the role requires close collaboration with internal technical leadership, new venture growth and operations teams to identify and prioritize opportunities and challenges.

Responsibilities & Qualifications:

Responsibilities:

Create a global network of hubs with world-class universities, institutes and companies in each region (North America, South America, Europe and Asia) with accountability for full cycle of the negotiated partnership through close collaboration with R&D leadership, New Venture Growth and operations teams.

Develop and manage an internal "Global Council" of technical experts to evaluate opportunities, prioritize and assess proposals from external partners.

Have deep understanding of IP, technology benchmarking. Measure outcomes from Global Council outputs, Invention Records, and stimulate an IP mindset throughout the CTO organization.

Demonstrate deep scientific and technological understanding of Novelis R&D strategy, business objectives and targets to identify partnerships with capabilities to accelerate problem solving.

Build an open innovation framework for R&D to share technical opportunities and solicit proposals in our key strategic areas, including sustainability, alloy design, AI/ML, robotics, additive manufacturing, etc. focused on flat rolled aluminum products and recycling.

Possess deep awareness of industry trends in core Novelis value streams, propose growth and diversification opportunities in strategic research fields by leveraging external partners.

Enhance the Novelis brand in the market of our core value streams and in breakthrough areas where our organization does not currently operate.

Qualifications

MS or PhD in Materials Science, Engineering, Applied Sciences or related fields

PhD preferred in one of the fields listed or equivalent experience (e.g. metallurgy)

Minimum 15 years hands-on experience in R&D in industry, academia or research institutes

Experience building scientific and research partnerships with world-class universities, institutes and corporations with verified tangible outcomes

Recognized scientific and/or technical expert with learning agility, data and strategic business skills

Demonstrated capability to absorb and assess information to make qualified decisions

Experience translating technology roadmaps to identify challenges, assess needs and gaps

Excellent communication and networking skills with the ability to tailor to diverse audiences, including strong presentation and facilitation skills

Strong program management, Agile and iterative thinking for execution (e.g. Scrum approaches)

Proficient in computer software applications

Experience managing teams with a high degree of technical depth

Expected domestic and international travel up to 50%

Location Profile:

Novelis' Global Research and Technology Center located in Kennesaw Georgia within the greater Atlanta metropolitan area is a cutting-edge full-service research and technology hub that employs approximately 200 people including world-class engineers metallurgists chemists and scientists. The facility includes state-of-the-art lab equipment and a diverse mix of product pilot lines that bring innovative solutions to customers in the automotive beverage can and specialty markets. Kennesaw provides a diverse and family-friendly place to live with countless museums cultural opportunities and educational institutions. Novelis is committed to the Kennesaw community and supports a number of local charitable organizations including Habitat for Humanity as well as FIRST Robotics aimed at encouraging young people to pursue the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields in order to spur the next generation of scientists and innovators. Novelis recognizes its talented and diverse workforce as a key competitive advantage. Novelis provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants. All terms and conditions of employment at Novelis including recruiting hiring placement promotion termination layoffs recalls transfers leaves of absence compensation and training are without regard to race color religion age sex national origin disability status genetics protected veteran status sexual orientation gender identity or expression or any other characteristic protected by federal provincial or local laws.