{"id":3561298,"url":"https://alion.io/job/apogee-enterprises-director-rd-advanced-technologies","title":"Director, R&D & Advanced Technologies","company":{"id":6232,"name":"Apogee Enterprises","domain":"apog.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/apog","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":91,"open_postings":8,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.375,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":42,"computed_at":"2026-11-10T06:52:35Z"}},"role":"Leadership","role_family":"Leadership","seniority":"head","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Faribault, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":160000,"max":175000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":175000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"CVD","optional":false},{"name":"PVD","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-30T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-30","last_verified_at":"2026-11-10T10:38:29Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":11,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":11},"description":"Tru Vue Inc.Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: APOG), was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. Apogee is a growing, profitable company with annual revenues approaching $1.5 billion. We provide distinctive metal and glass solutions for enclosing commercial buildings, and glass and acrylic solutions for picture framing and display applications. To learn more visit: www.apog.com.\nThe Apogee Performance Surfaces segment generates >$200M in revenue and EBITDA margins of 20-25%. Our brands in the Performance Surfaces portfolio develop and manufacture high-performance coated materials for a variety of applications, including wall décor, museums, graphic design, architectural interiors, digital display, and industrial flooring markets. We are the global leader in anti-reflective, conservation grade electrostatic dissipative, high-definition, and abrasion resistance coatings, that provide protection, innovative designs, and exceptional durability.\nPosition Summary\nThe Director, R&D & Advanced Technologies is a working technical leader responsible for the Faribault R&D organization and the development of advanced surface technologies. This role requires deep expertise in PVD sputtering and practical experience with PECVD or related plasma processes.\nApproximately 50-60% of the role is hands-on, including personally leading high-priority development programs, designing and conducting experiments, optimizing processes, solving complex technical problems, and scaling technologies into manufacturing. The balance of the role includes setting R&D priorities, managing the technology portfolio, developing technical talent, and aligning resources with customer, business, and manufacturing needs.\nThe successful candidate will be equally effective in the laboratory, manufacturing environment, and leadership setting. This individual is expected to personally deliver technical outcomes, not solely manage the work of others.\nResponsibilities\nHands-On Technology Development\nPersonally lead one or two priority advanced-technology programs from experimentation through manufacturing implementation.\nDesign and execute experiments, develop coating architectures, analyze data, optimize processes, and solve complex technical problems.\nApply deep expertise in PVD sputtering, PECVD/plasma processes, thin films, and advanced surface technologies.\nLead process scale-up, validation, root-cause analysis, and the transfer of new technologies into manufacturing.\nMaintain a regular presence in the laboratory and manufacturing environment.\nR&D Leadership and Portfolio Management.\nLead the Faribault R&D organization and establish priorities aligned with business growth, customer needs, and manufacturing requirements.\nManage the development portfolio, balancing longer-term technology opportunities with near-term commercial priorities.\nEstablish clear project objectives, milestones, resource requirements, technical risks, and success criteria.\nProvide senior leadership with clear recommendations regarding technology opportunities, investments, risks, and development priorities.\nEnsure resources are focused on initiatives with the greatest strategic and economic value.\nCommercialization and Customer Partnership\nTranslate customer and market needs into technical requirements, development programs, and technology roadmaps.\nPartner with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Sales, Marketing, and Technical Service to commercialize new products and processes.\nEngage directly with strategic customers to address complex technical challenges and identify development opportunities.\nBuild productive external relationships with suppliers, universities, research organizations, and technology partners.\nEnsure new technologies deliver required performance, manufacturability, quality, cost, and customer value.\nTalent and Technical Capability\nLead, coach, and develop scientists, chemists, engineers, and technicians.\nBuild organizational capability in coating, deposition, plasma, materials, analytical, and process-development disciplines.\nStrengthen experimental design, structured problem-solving, technical documentation, and knowledge sharing.\nIdentify critical capability gaps and address them through employee development, recruiting, or external partnerships.\nFoster a culture of technical rigor, accountability, collaboration, learning, and practical innovation.\nOperational Leadership\nManage R&D operating and capital budgets and prioritize resources based on strategic and business impact.\nEstablish measurable performance objectives for development milestones, scale-up, manufacturing transfer, commercialization readiness, cycle time, and technical performance.\nChampion safety, disciplined experimentation, knowledge management, and continuous improvement.\nImprove R&D productivity while reducing technical risk, waste, process variation, and development cycle time.\nPersonal Attributes and Experience\nBachelor's degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, Engineering, or a related technical discipline required.\nAdvanced technical degree preferred.\nProgressive R&D, technology-development, coatings, thin-film, vacuum-deposition, plasma-processing, or related experience.\nDemonstrated hands-on experience developing, optimizing, and scaling PVD sputtered thin-film coatings in a production-oriented environment, including coating-stack design, deposition-process development, process characterization, and troubleshooting of coating-performance challenges; practical PECVD/plasma experience also required.\nDemonstrated experience personally leading complex technology-development projects from experimentation through scale-up or implementation.\nPrevious leadership of technical professionals strongly preferred.\nExperience operating in a manufacturing or commercially oriented R&D organization preferred.\nStrategic application of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies to drive business outcomes, enhance decision-making, and improve operational efficiency.\nCritical Technical Requirements\nDemonstrated expertise in PVD sputtering technology and processes.\nDemonstrated expertise with PECVD and/or plasma-based deposition and surface-treatment processes.\nDemonstrated ability to personally design, execute, analyze, and interpret technical experiments.\nExperience developing and optimizing coating architectures and deposition processes.\nDemonstrated capability in technology development, process optimization, troubleshooting, and manufacturing scale-up.\nStrong knowledge of experimental design, root-cause analysis, technical data analysis, and structured problem-solving.\nExperience transitioning new technologies from laboratory or development environment into manufacturing.\nAdditional Preferred Technical Experience\nWet-chemistry coating formulation and application experience.\nThin-film characterization and surface-analysis experience.\nExperience with multiple coating and deposition technologies.\nExperience working within a manufacturing environment where new technologies must transition from development into scalable production.\nLeadership Competencies\nAbility to operate effectively as both a technical expert and organizational leader.\nStrong technical judgment and disciplined decision-making.\nAbility to balance hands-on project execution with leadership of multiple development priorities.\nDemonstrated ability to develop technical professionals.\nStrong cross-functional leadership and influence.\nAbility to communicate complex technical concepts effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences.\nStrong business acumen and ability to connect technical investments to customer and business needs.\nWork Environment\nThis job will require 4 days each week on site. The noise level in the office is generally moderate. While performing the duties of this job, the employee frequently interacts with individuals on the plant floor, near moving mechanical parts. The noise level in the production environment is usually loud.\nPay Range\n· $160,000-175,000\nOur Benefits\nWe care about and invest in our employees. We are proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support their well-being and foster professional development. Here is a glimpse of what you can look forward to if you join our team.\nCompetitive Benefits Package for employees and their dependents (Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Disability)\n\nIncentive Plans\n\n401(k) with employer contribution and match\n\nEmployee Stock Purchase Plan with employer match\n\nPaid Time Off (Vacation and Sick Time)\n\nPaid Holidays\n\nTuition Reimbursement Program\n\nEmployee Assistance Program (EAP)\n\nWellness Program\n\nTraining and Career Progression\n\nApogee and our brands are an Equal Opportunity Employer.","description_format":"text","description_chars":8765,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Professional development"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Glass & Ceramics Manufacturing","Construction"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-31T04:13:14Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":11,"expected_fill_days":42,"reasons":["conf:2","velocity","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-11-10T06:52:35Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":175000,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/apogee-enterprises-director-rd-advanced-technologies","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/apogee-enterprises-director-rd-advanced-technologies.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-10T16:29:47Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":3990,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-11T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":6232},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=6232"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fapogee-enterprises-director-rd-advanced-technologies"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":2,"usd":0.2},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fapogee-enterprises-director-rd-advanced-technologies"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fapogee-enterprises-director-rd-advanced-technologies"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/apogee-enterprises-director-rd-advanced-technologies\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fapogee-enterprises-director-rd-advanced-technologies"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3561298}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"apog.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3561298},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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