Vice President, R&D

Job ID: 16052 

Alternate Locations:  

Newell Brands is a leading consumer products company with a portfolio of iconic brands like Graco®, Coleman®, Oster®, Rubbermaid®, Sharpie® and Yankee Candle® - and 24,000 talented teammates around the world. Our culture is built on values in action: Integrity, Teamwork, Passion for Winning, Ownership, and Leadership. We work together to win, grow, and make a real impact—supported by a high-performing, inclusive, and collaborative environment where you can be your best, every day.

The Vice President - Research & Development leads the R&D agenda for the Learning & Development Segment across the Writing and Baby business units. This is a change-leadership mandate: R&D represents 63% of segment SG&A headcount and is central to the segment's transformation. The role owns the R&D workstream through all NPD stage-gates from technical feasibility through commercialization and launch overseeing Quality, Chemistry, Product Engineering and Regulatory & Compliance, while partnering with Industrial Design, Packaging Engineering, Brand, FEI and IPPL/PMO throughout.

Two technical priorities anchor the role: deep chemistry (ink, adhesion and formulation science) and connected-product technology. Success requires a bold business leader with the credibility to challenge expert teams, the influence to move a matrixed organization.

R&D Strategy & New Product Development

• Lead the R&D workstream through all stage-gates for Writing and Baby; partner with IPPL/PMO on pipeline sufficiency and stage-gate governance and with Legal, Industrial Design and Packaging Engineering as peer functions.
• Translate the segment innovation plan into prioritized, resourced technical roadmaps; make clear invest, accelerate, slow or stop calls based on consumer value, P&L impact, risk and speed to market.
• Set the R&D strategy — platforms, capabilities and technologies — that strengthens technical delivery, builds competitive advantage and supports disciplined experimentation.
• Lead the segment's connected-product agenda: deliver Wi-Fi-enabled product lines and the consumer applications that drive engagement, loyalty and purchase consideration.

Segment & Category Leadership

• Provide R&D leadership across Writing (writing instruments, labeling, adhesion and slime) and Baby — Baby Gear (car seats, strollers, travel systems) and Baby Care (bottles, pacifiers, sippy cups and tableware).
• Translate brand and category strategies into technical roadmaps, balancing near-term delivery with long-term capability building; represent R&D in segment leadership forums, executive reviews and regulatory engagements.

Core Technical Capabilities

• Oversee Quality, Chemistry, Product Engineering and Regulatory & Compliance — ensuring consistent standards and no gaps across categories.
• Elevate the Chemistry organization (ink, adhesion and formulation science) and direct VAVE efforts to strengthen product performance, cost and material innovation.
• Assess raw material suppliers to perform at best cost, ensuring quality standards are met and supply chain competitiveness is sustained.
• Build a new technical capability in Wi-Fi-enabled products and application development, bringing in the talent, tools and partnerships the segment does not yet have.
• Ensure quality expectations are embedded in development so products meet consumer and customer expectations at launch and throughout the product life; apply design-for-manufacturing thinking to enable efficient production.
• Strongly influence sourced vendor capabilities to ensure products meet Newell standards.

Safety, Regulatory & Compliance

• Ensure all products meet or exceed applicable safety and regulatory standards across jurisdictions (e.g., FMVSS 213, NHTSA and ASTM for juvenile products; chemical and product safety standards for writing instruments).
• Partner with Legal, Regulatory and Compliance to anticipate evolving standards, proactively manage risk and maintain robust test-lab capability for the highly regulated Baby categories.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Execution

• Align Industrial Design, Packaging Engineering, Sourcing, Brand, FEI and IPPL/PMO — without waiting for formal authority — to deliver integrated, manufacturable, consumer-right solutions on time.
• Set clear accountability with Procurement, Supply Chain, Legal and Finance to remove barriers; establish and track KPIs for innovation throughput, launch quality, compliance and R&D efficiency.

Talent & Organizational Leadership

• Build an A+ R&D bench through rigorous talent assessment, succession planning, external hiring above the organization's comfort level and decisive action on underperformance.
• Lead organizational transformation — upgrading key leadership roles, restructuring for speed and efficiency — while sustaining business delivery and creating a winning agenda people choose to follow.

Candidate Profile

• Bold matrix leader — drives change in a business-oriented sequence, creates followership and holds pace against inertia across functions not directly owned.
• Chemistry depth — strong applied-chemistry grounding (inks, adhesives, surfactants and formulation science) with credibility to rebuild the Chemistry bench to an A level.
• Connected products — has brought Wi-Fi-enabled consumer products and applications to market; understands how apps drive brand engagement and purchase consideration.
• Safety & regulatory fluency — credible oversight of product safety, testing and regulatory standards; experienced operating in highly regulated environments, especially juvenile products.
• Transformational talent leader — upgrades the bench, hires boldly and acts early on good-but-not-good-enough performance.
• Business orientation — moves R&D from process management to P&L leadership; trades technical process for the better business outcome when warranted.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive R&D / product development leadership with multi-category scope, organizational transformation and senior people leadership.
• Demonstrated success in consumer-product innovation grounded in applied chemistry; background with organizations known for chemistry-driven innovation strongly preferred.
• Experience delivering Wi-Fi-enabled or connected consumer products and supporting applications.
• Proven ability to operate in highly regulated categories, leveraging strong internal safety and regulatory teams.
• Track record of transforming organizations — upgrading leadership, restructuring for efficiency and making difficult talent decisions at pace.
• Ability to create followership and influence at the executive level in a global, matrixed environment.
• Must plan to reside in Atlanta; ability to travel as required.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ: NWL) is a leading global consumer goods company with a strong portfolio of well-known brands, including Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Graco, Coleman, Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Yankee Candle, Paper Mate, FoodSaver, Dymo, EXPO, Elmer’s, Oster, NUK, Spontex and Campingaz. We are focused on delighting consumers by lighting up everyday moments. Newell Brands and its subsidiaries are Equal Opportunity Employers and comply with applicable employment laws. EOE/M/F/Vet/Disabled are encouraged to apply.