R&D Director (Robotics/ Vision Tech/ Green Energy)
About the company
We are looking for an experienced and visionary R&D Director to lead and grow our R&D organisation. This is a senior leadership position responsible for driving technology development, innovation and product engineering across multiple R&D disciplines.
Your tasks
The successful candidate will lead multidisciplinary engineering teams and work closely with senior management, product, manufacturing and commercial teams to turn new technologies and ideas into scalable, market-ready solutions.
- Lead and provide strategic direction to the R&D organisation, covering technology development, product engineering and innovation.
- Define and execute the R&D roadmap in alignment with the company's business and growth objectives.
- Lead multidisciplinary teams across areas such as hardware, software, firmware, mechanical, electronics and systems engineering.
- Drive the development of new products and technologies from conceptualization and prototyping through to mass production.
- Identify and evaluate emerging technologies and opportunities in vision systems, robotics, automation, smart technologies and green energy.
- Establish strong R&D processes, engineering standards and product development methodologies.
- Work closely with Product Management, Operations, Manufacturing and other business functions to ensure successful product development and launch.
- Oversee R&D project portfolios, ensuring effective resource allocation, timelines, budgets and technical outcomes.
- Build, mentor and develop a high-performing R&D organisation and strengthen technical capabilities within the team.
- Foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, collaboration and continuous improvement.
- Develop relationships with technology partners, research institutions, universities and industry partners where appropriate.
- Protect and strengthen the company's intellectual property and technical capabilities.
Requirements
We are particularly interested in candidates with strong experience in Vision Technology, Robotics, Green Energy or related emerging technologies.
- Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Engineering, Computer Science or a related technical discipline.
- 15+ years of relevant R&D / engineering experience, with significant experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.
- Proven experience managing and developing large-scale R&D or engineering organisations.
- Strong track record of taking products or technologies from concept through development, validation and commercialisation.
- Experience in one or more of the following areas:
- Vision Technology / Computer Vision / Imaging
- Robotics / Automation
- Green Energy / Energy Management / Sustainable Technology
- Smart Systems / IoT / Connected Devices
- Strong understanding of both hardware and software development environments.
- Experience working across the complete product development lifecycle.
- Strong project, resource and budget management capabilities.
- Excellent leadership, communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Commercially minded with the ability to balance technological ambition with business requirements.
The Ideal Candidate We are looking for a technology leader who is hands-on enough to understand the engineering challenges, but senior enough to lead through people and strategy.
You should be comfortable moving between technology discussions with engineers, product and commercial discussions with business leaders, and strategic conversations with senior management.
Most importantly, you should have a genuine passion for innovation and emerging technologies, together with a proven ability to build strong engineering teams and turn ideas into products that create real business value.