Additive Manufacturing Research Director

About America Makes and NCDMM

America Makes is the Nation’s leading public-private partnership for Additive Manufacturing technology and education. Our members from industry, academia, government, workforce, and economic development organizations, work together to accelerate the adoption of AM and the nation’s global manufacturing competitiveness, focusing on three core missions – Technology Development, Education and Workforce Development, and Ecosystem. The Institute America Makes is driven and managed by NCDMM, the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining. Established in 2003, NCDMM delivers innovative and collaborative manufacturing solutions that enhance our nation’s workforce and economic competitiveness.

Position Type

Full-time

Position Summary

As Additive Manufacturing Research Director, you will be part of a diverse team that is collaborating to grow and mature the additive manufacturing supply chain.  The Additive Manufacturing Research Director will be responsible for a variety of activities to include but not limited to developing strategic partnerships, increasing awareness of the America Makes mission, convening and growing membership, driving technical thought leadership, and supporting the technology centric team of America Makes.  As owner of these core activities, the Additive Manufacturing Research Director will play a critical role in driving value out of and for the technology portfolio.

The ideal candidate is a collaborative and creative team player with passion for additive manufacturing and advanced manufacturing technologies.  They bring extensive experience in developing and scaling manufacturing technology, strategic partnerships, and driving stakeholder engagement.  The candidate is also detail and task oriented as this role requires the team member to both think strategically and execute tasks operationally.

The team culture is innovative, creative, and fast paced.  Members of the team need to be adaptive and thrive in an ambiguous environment.  This role is part of a collaborative team, but a candidate with a “self-starter” personality who has high emotional intelligence will thrive in this role.

Job Responsibilities

• Awareness of existing state of the art additive manufacturing technology to identify and prioritize engagement opportunities and convert relationships and technical understand to tangible impact drivers for the larger America Makes consortia and domestic AM supply chain.
• Identify industry centric gaps to proactively address alignment to AM technology capability while engaging partners and members to support the mission.
• Technical writing and presentation of technical information to various technical and non-technical audiences.
• Leverage existing and forming new government stakeholder relationships to improve awareness around Institute objectives and goals and defining alignment between various stakeholder needs/priorities.
• Drive coordination and engagement with AM standards development community.
• Grow and develop an inclusive, diverse, and engaged team culture who is aligned around value generation and performance through excellence in research portfolio execution.
• Drive value creation of the research portfolio through promoting the tenants of effective technical communications – goals, objectives, motivations, approach, success metrics, data management, and reporting.
• Support the Technology Director and other America Makes coworkers on ongoing activities, initiatives, and objectives.
• Ability and willingness to travel domestic and international.

Qualifications/Requirements

• Master’s degree in related engineering or science discipline highly preferred
• Minimum of five years’ experience with AM research, manufacturing operations, or product development
• Experience leading diverse and multi-disciplinary teams
• Experience with technical writing and production of peer reviewed publications
• Experience with government contracting (IP, export, and data management) and proposal writing required
• Ability to deliver technical presentations, interpret data, and explain findings/outcomes/trends required
• Ability to evaluate research (applied or fundamental) and understand merits and impact
• Ability to tailor communications to various audiences – various industry sectors, technical and non-technical
• Successfully identified and converted business development opportunities through understanding and addressing engineering, executive, manufacturing, and/or regulatory stakeholder needs
• Demonstrated ability to apply business acumen to explain and prioritize research
• Experience in collaboration coupled with value proposition acumen to drive research and technology maturation efforts
• Demonstrated ability to lead strategic stakeholder and partnership development programs, designed to increase engagement, drive mission impact, and grow technology portfolio value generation
• Relevant and successful experience operating in a technology maturation space, ideally around Additive Manufacturing or other relevant manufacturing technologies (special processes or welding)
• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Proficient in Microsoft office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Prior experience with project/program management a plus

How to Apply

Please submit your resume and cover letter to Diane Chesnutwood, Human Resource Manager at diane.chesnutwood@ncdmm.org.

America Makes is the Nation’s leading public-private partnership for Additive Manufacturing technology and education.  Our members from industry, academia, government, workforce, and economic development organizations, work together to accelerate the adoption of AM and the nation’s global manufacturing competitiveness, focusing on three core missions – Technology Development, Education and Workforce Development, and Ecosystem.

For information on America Makes, including more information on employee benefits and our company culture, visit our website at www.americamakes.us or www.ncdmm.org.

NCDMM is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.