Kimberlyclark
Senior R&D Technical Leader
Company
Role
Senior R&D Technical Leader
Location
Costa Rica
Job type
Full time
Posted
Yesterday
Salary
Job description
Job Description
You’re not the person who will settle for just any role. Neither are we. Because we’re out to create Better Care for a Better World, and that takes a certain kind of person and teams who care about making a difference. Here, you’ll bring your professional expertise, talent, and drive to building and managing our portfolio of iconic, ground-breaking brands. In your role, you’ll help us deliver better care for billions of people around the world. It starts with YOU.
In this role you will be responsible for partnering with the marketing leader to set the short to medium product portfolio strategy and innovation plans for categories in EM (Emerging Markets). Delivering the innovation plans on time with highest quality – as well as managing the R&E open diaper product development team and priorities across EM organization to ensure fast and max adoption (from other regions and across the region) considering supply complexity and financial optimization.
You will also:
Lead the delivery of the AFC (Adult & Fem Care) open diaper innovation pipeline across EM, ensuring projects are executed on time, with high quality, and aligned with business and financial targets.
Partner closely with Sector and Regional Marketing teams to define, align, and execute the 0–3 year product portfolio and innovation roadmap for EM markets.
Act as technical owner and project lead for innovation initiatives, guiding projects from ideation through IMF, commercialization, and regional rollout.
Drive “adopt & adapt” innovation, scaling global and NA-led solutions while adjusting for EM-specific needs such as formats, mill capabilities, cost constraints, and supply complexity.
Serve as the senior technical authority within the EM R&D AFC community, providing technical direction, coaching, and capability building across regions.
Influence and align cross-functional stakeholders (Marketing, Supply Chain, Procurement, Manufacturing, Global R&D) to secure buy-in and enable fast, effective execution of innovation projects.
Contribute to business performance and cost transformation initiatives, balancing technical rigor with pragmatic, “right-enough” solutions to deliver value at scale.
About Us
Huggies®. Kleenex®. Cottonelle®. Scott®. Kotex®. Poise®. Depend®. Kimberly-Clark Professional®. You already know our legendary brands—and so does the rest of the world. In fact, millions of people use Kimberly-Clark products every day. We know these amazing Kimberly-Clark products wouldn’t exist without talented professionals, like you.
At Kimberly-Clark, you’ll be part of the best team committed to driving innovation, growth and impact. We’re founded on 150 years of market leadership, and we’re always looking for new and better ways to perform – so there’s your open door of opportunity. It’s all here for you at Kimberly-Clark; you just need to log on!
Led by Purpose. Driven by You.
About You
You love what you do, especially when the work you do makes a difference. At Kimberly-Clark, we’re constantly exploring new ideas on how, when, and where we can best achieve results. When you join our team, you’ll experience Flex That Works: flexible (hybrid) work arrangements that empower you to have purposeful time in the office and partner with your leader to make flexibility work for both you and the business.
Main requirements:
7+ years of experience in R&D or product development, preferably within AFC, personal care, or closely related consumer goods categories.
Strong technical background (engineering, materials, or similar), with the ability to translate consumer and market insights into scalable product solutions.
Proven experience leading complex innovation projects in a matrix, multi-region environment, with exposure to commercialization and manufacturing realities.
Excellent communication skills in English (spoken and written), with the ability to confidently engage and influence senior leaders without reliance on translation.
Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, able to operate effectively across cultures, functions, and organizational levels.
Leadership capability without direct reports, acting as a role model, coach, and change agent within the R&D community.
High resilience, flexibility, and prioritization skills, comfortable working across time zones and managing a demanding, fast-paced innovation agenda.
To Be Considered
Click the Apply button and complete the online application process. A member of our recruiting team will review your application and follow up if you seem like a great fit for this role.
In the meantime, please check out our careers site: https://careers.kimberly-clark.com/es-419.
And finally, the fine print….
For Kimberly-Clark to grow and prosper, we must be an inclusive organization that applies the diverse experiences and passions of its team members to brands that make life better for people all around the world. We actively seek to build a workforce that reflects the experiences of our consumers. When you bring your original thinking to Kimberly-Clark, you fuel the continued success of our enterprise. We are a committed equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, pregnancy, genetic information, citizenship status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
The statements above are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this classification. Statements are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities and skills required for this position.
This role is available for local candidates already authorized to work in the role’s country only. Kimberly-Clark will not provide relocation support for this role.
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