R&D Director

ECCO Leather

ECCO is founded in 1963 in Denmark. ECCO relies on mastering the whole process of brand, product and concept development, production and sales. ECCO’s operational activities are managed through 5 sales regions, 5 production units and one leather unit, ECCO Leather. Each unit has its own management, supervisory board, budget and financial management.

ECCO’s leather activities are all consolidated in the ECCO Leather Group, which is headquartered in Dongen. Leather production takes place in Thailand, China and Indonesia. ECCO Leather’s Research & Development Centre and the production of small quantities are also located in Dongen. The headquarter in Dongen counts approximately 150 employees from various nationalities. The culture can best be described as entrepreneurial, freedom to act, passionate, pro-active and divers.
Mr. Panos Mytaros is the President of the ECCO Leather Group. He has an extensive background and knowledge in leather production and joined the ECCO Group in 1994. The Management team consists of Finance, Human Resources, Tannery, Supply Chain and Research & Development.

Research & Development

The R&D Centre is responsible for developing new leather types including the production of samples. Primarily for the ECCO group but also for third parties. R&D is also offering trainings to the other production units in Asia. The R&D team counts 32 people in total. All members of the R&D team are highly skilled and technical oriented people with different backgrounds and nationalities. The R&D Director is the head of the R&D team. The R&D Manager is reporting to the President of the ECCO Leather Group and is part of the Management team. He will attend the quarterly board meetings of ECCO Leather-Group. At the moment ECCO’s wishes to recruit the R&D Director.

The major functions under the R&D Director are:

• Research: dedicated to investigate new technologies and subsidized projects. These projects could also include partnerships with universities.
• Developers: Leather technical people who are working on latest trends and collection development in cooperation with sales and a team of external creative people. 
• Technicians: leather technicians responsible to take the leather from the Developers and make it in the production environment. 
• Production R&D: the team who makes the actual samples and all production work within the R&D. Responsible for output and on time delivery of samples. 
• Logistics: responsible for order taking , capacity planning and communication and confirmation of delivery time of samples. 
• Laboratory: a centre of excellence, responsible for the leather testing to meet quality and environmental standards. The lab also conducts extensive research into the reduction of the impact of the tanning process on the environment and recycling opportunities are considered and examined.

Tasks and responsibilities

The main tasks and responsibilities for the R&D Director are: 

• To manage the R&D team to achieve maximum results according to the company’s vision, targets and budgets and to highly support innovative development. 
• To manage, coach and develop the R&D team 
• Overall project management 
• To optimize the creation, innovation and development curve 
• To facilitate and act as internal ambassador 
• To ensure proper working conditions such as a safe and proper work environment 
• To make sure that sample delivery meets the customers demands in terms of quality and delivery time. 
• To make sure that ECCO Leather will apply for any leather related subsidies and will report as per subsidy guidelines.

Profile of the ideal candidate

The ideal candidate for the R&D management position has completed a university or higher vocational degree. He has around 10 years of working experience in a professional environment, preferably technical or engineering. He is an excellent people manager, with demonstrated management skills, able to built, manage and inspire a team of technical professionals. He has strong process- and project management skills. Experience in Research & Development is a plus.

Candidates are analytically strong, fact oriented and able to structure complexity. They are real team players, open, honest and diplomatic but also straight and direct if needed. Candidates have experience with a multinational environment, preferably having worked in different countries, and are fluent in English. Mastering the German language is a plus.

Candidates will work in Dongen but will also need to travel 3-4 times to Denmark, and 1-2 times a year to Indonesia, Thailand and China. Of course European business trips are also included in the job.

Contact

Should you be interested in this position, please send your curriculum vitae in Word format together with an accompanying letter of motivation to attached form.