Senior R&d Manager

**About us**
We are a team of passionate individuals, developing ground-breaking biological technologies designed to sustainably, and safely, control insects that transmit diseases and destroy crops. We do this work to improve lives and livelihoods around the world in the face of the growing threats that insects pose to human health and the global food supply.

We are strongly committed to a set of values, principles, and behaviours, which foster a culture of trust, respect, creativity, and accountability - and seek talented people who are deeply committed to our mission, values, and principles, and thrive in start-up like environments. Learn more here about our mission, values, and principles. Click here to read our CEO’s blog about trust and our corporate culture.

**Purpose of the Job**

You must have a strong technical and scientific background, as well as well-developed people and program management skills. Solid **experience leading R&D teams and programs in the biotech industry is a must have **, as well as the willingness to change the world for the better. Teamwork, resilience, flexibility, and a spirit of cooperation with multidisciplinary teams will all be important for success, as will enthusiasm for collaborating internationally.

This is a great opportunity to work with a dedicated and enthusiastic team at a pioneer biotechnology company for insect control.

**Responsibilities of the Senior R&D Manager**:

- Lead a growing team of scientists in Brazil to translate innovations from the UK into the Brazilian context, driving toward completion of product development objectives in Brazil;
- Transfer the learnings and innovations from your team to the Operations Division that will take it forward to the market;
- Work closely with your Brazil-based team and the UK-based scientific leadership to develop strategic approaches during project design and execution phases, including assistance in translating milestones into manageable workstreams;
- Recruit and develop your team in line with company objectives ensuring skills are developed in-house and brought in from the outside as is appropriate;
- Help the team to place their priorities within the broader company context, and work flexibly to support other teams when required;
- Provide creative input into all projects, guiding innovative approaches and building consensus around success criteria;
- Critically assess results coming from the research staff and share insights for the benefit of staff at all levels;
- Enable and encourage junior staff to accommodate flexibility in their experimental designs and approaches, to maximize progress;
- Coach, mentor and teach employees who have potential to contribute to Oxitec’s innovation agenda;
- Be willing and available to assist other divisions, such as field and operations in a similar capacity, troubleshooting and offering practical guidance in deploying new efforts.

**Key Qualifications and Skills**:

- Educated to PhD level with 5+ years industry experience leading scientific research;
- Demonstrated track record of team building in the scientific discipline, especially those uniting biological and engineering requirements;
- Experience leading a team with multiple priority areas under tight time pressures;
- Field testing experience will be of benefit;
- Industry experience from food, pharma, biologicals, or insect rearing;
- Proven track-record of delivering novel products and programs to time and budget;
- Excellent English and Portuguese written and oral communication skills.

**Behavioural Requirements**:

- Innovative, positive, creative, and resourceful.
- Enjoys being part of growing, dynamic and fast-paced organizations, capable of creating and adapting operations as required to scale and grow.
- A strong collaborator, experienced at working in multi-cultural environments in a global business with virtual teams.
- Ability to work independently as well as efficiently in teams, respecting the chain of command.
- Works with independence and holds oneself accountable, while being always closely aligned with the leader and internal customers.
- Highly organized with proven analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent negotiation and influencing skills.
- Demonstrated ability to be flexible, manage ambiguity, take on various tasks, and willingness execute any role for a team’s success.