Rotex is looking for a Director of Innovation to join the team in Cincinnati, OH! The Director of Innovation leads the vision, strategy, and direction of the innovation process within Rotex. The role will challenge the status quo and lead our new product development team in adding new value-add products for our customers. Work You'll Do: In collaboration with the Director of Business Development, use understanding of current products to identify and prioritize design modifications, value engineering opportunities, and/or development of completely new products. Leverage stage gate practices to ensure cross functional collaboration in identifying and developing new products which maximize competitiveness, quality, and value. Conduct and leverage "value engineering" methodologies to enhance product(s) for manufacturability and quality. Grow innovation engineering talent through training, role rotations, customer interactions, presentations skills, coaching on analysis and engineering processes and exposure to new technologies. Conduct research on emerging technologies in support of systems development efforts and recommend technologies that will increase cost effectiveness and systems flexibility. Drive enhancements to product performance by supporting manufacturing and quality functions to address field, production and warranty issues and update and enhance product designs as required. Develop innovative product experimentation processes, with a willingness to iterate and progress technological development through frequent and fast failures, leading to product disruption and success. Develop creative approaches to streamlining design and validation processes while still addressing critical commercial, technical and business risks. Drive change in the organization through development of modular, standardized approaches to product design to simplify the business. Optimize processes for product cost management and product specification fulfillment. Identify ways to enhance Rotex's customer experiences through leveraging IOT solutions. Challenge material selection assumptions, remaining knowledgeable about the latest material developments and availability in the industry. Hold team accountable to milestone, cost and revenue targets associated with products to be launched. Leverage 3P (Production, Preparation, Process) methodologies to rapidly innovate and leverage cross functional collaboration in the innovation process. Basic Qualifications: A Bachelor's degree is required, with a preference for engineering or a related field. Additional preference for a master's degree in engineering or a related field. A minimum of 10 years of experience in product development and launch processes. Proven expertise in the fundamentals of industrial machinery engineering. Proficient in stage-gate processes or similar methodologies for identifying customer needs and successfully launching value-driven products. Demonstrated experience in implementing processes to ensure compliance with global safety standards across the organization. Exceptional analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a talent for recommending alternative solutions and distilling complex concepts into clear, understandable terms. Extensive experience in managing large, diverse teams across multiple business units and geographic regions. Strong capability to translate business strategies into actionable team objectives, fostering collaboration and building trust-based relationships with employees at all levels, along with a history of active engagement with leadership. Skilled in effectively leveraging global outsourced partners to ensure timely fulfillment of engineering requirements while focusing on core, advanced technology challenges. Proficient in Design for Manufacturing (DFM), Design for A