Sr. Director R&D (Shelton, CT)

Responsibilities

Location(s) Shelton, Connecticut Status Regular Job ID REQ-055326

The Company

PerkinElmer is a global analytical services and solutions provider with offerings including the leading OneSource Field and Laboratory services business that serve the biopharma, food, environmental, safety and applied end markets to accelerate scientific outcomes. Since 1937, PerkinElmer has served as a trusted partner in laboratory analysis and management and today complements its service offerings with a broad portfolio of atomic spectroscopy, molecular spectroscopy, and chromatography instruments, consumables, and reagents. With a dedicated team of more than 5,000 team members, the Company serves customers in more than 35 countries. Additional information is available at www.perkinelmer.com

Purpose

PerkinElmer is seeking a strategic and experienced Senior Director of R&D to lead our ICP-OES product development as well as the global R&D services functions. This role will oversee the Shelton-based multidisciplinary product development team and provide global leadership for shared R&D services, including tools and technologies, technical documentation, and compliance engineering (safety, electrical, and environmental). The successful candidate will bring deep scientific expertise, strong organizational leadership, and a passion for enabling world-class R&D execution across the company.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Define and drive the vision for ICP-OES product innovation and the strategic evolution of global R&D services.
• Align organizational goals with company-level R&D strategy and business priorities.
• Represent Shelton R&D and Global Services in enterprise planning and leadership forums.

ICP-OES Product Development

• Lead end-to-end product development for ICP-OES instruments, including optical, mechanical, electronic, and embedded software systems.
• Guide roadmap execution, from concept through product launch, ensuring customer-centric solutions with high performance and quality.
• Drive collaboration with marketing, operations, and service teams to ensure successful commercialization and post-launch support.

Global R&D Services

• Oversee enterprise-wide R&D tools and technologies, ensuring effective deployment, support, and adoption across all global sites.
• Manage the global technical documentation function, ensuring accurate, user-friendly, and compliant product content.
• Lead the compliance engineering team responsible for regulatory certifications, safety reviews, and environmental standards across product portfolios.
• Drive global manufacturing transfer processes, ensuring smooth transitions from R&D to Operations with clear cross-functional alignment across sites.

Team and Talent Leadership

• Inspire and develop high-performing teams across multiple geographies and disciplines.
• Champion a culture of excellence, collaboration, accountability, and inclusion.
• Serve as the senior site leader for Shelton R&D, fostering local engagement and team development.

Operational Excellence

• Manage budgets, resourcing, and portfolio execution across both product and service functions.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to reduce time-to-market, enhance productivity, and drive quality outcomes.
• Ensure design controls, risk management, and compliance with internal and external standards.

Customer and Stakeholder Engagement

• Engage with key customers, regulatory bodies, and internal stakeholders to stay ahead of industry trends and evolving needs.
• Leverage insights to shape technology investments and global R&D infrastructure improvements.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in relevant scientific or engineering field.
• 15+ years of R&D experience with at least 5 years in senior leadership roles within the analytical instrumentation or life sciences industry

Preferred Characteristics

• Bias for action and hands-on
• Deep understanding of ICP-OES technology and related elemental analysis techniques.
• Strong familiarity with compliance engineering processes and global product regulatory requirements.
• Experience managing enterprise systems/tools supporting R&D
• Knowledge of software/firmware development, documentation best practices, and manufacturing processes.
• Demonstrated success in leading manufacturing transfers from R&D into scaled operations.
• Excellent communication, change leadership, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to translate strategic vision into actionable execution plans.