The Central R&D Senior Director supports the Vice President in leading and coordinating the Central R&D organization. This role helps drive strategic alignment, operational excellence, cross-functional collaboration, and execution of key R&D initiatives across the organization.

The Senior Director acts as a trusted partner to the Vice President, ensuring continuity of leadership, follow-up on priorities, and effective communication between R&D teams, senior management, and other business functions.

The Senior Director will translate strategic priorities into clear, measurable objectives and key results and operating metrics, and he/she drives consistent execution across Product development & related R&D functions. This role operates with the authority of the VP Central R&D and works closely with internal Central R&D functional leaders, MDRF General Manager & leaders to align R&D outcomes with MDRF & company priorities, resolve trade-offs, and ensure delivery against agreed results.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Planning & Execution

• Translate R&D strategy and leadership priorities into actionable objectives and key results, achievements, and success metrics.
• Partner with the Head of R&D & key technologist leaders to define and operationalize long-term technology & Ips roadmaps (e.g., nodes, architectures, …).
• Drive execution of strategic initiatives across design, process, and product.
• Collaborate within CRD Operation & PMO group on tracking and report progress on critical R&D milestones (e.g., tape-outs, yield targets, PPA improvements)
• Monitor progress against strategic objectives and highlight risks, gaps, and opportunities.
• Prepare decision-making materials for leadership reviews and governance forums.

2. Cross-Functional Alignment

• Act as a central coordination point across R&D, product lines, and corporate functions
• Ensure tight coordination between central design teams and divisions (internal or external).
• Facilitate decision-making across MDRF CRD distributed teams.
• Drive collaboration across technical, operational, and business stakeholders

3. Operational Excellence

• Establish and run the operating cadence (quarterly planning, execution reviews, KPI tracking)
• Define and monitor R&D performance indicators, including:
  • Development cycle time
  • First-pass success rate
  • Cost efficiency
• Improve execution discipline and scalability through process optimization and best practices
• Strengthen predictability and delivery reliability across the R&D organization

4. Executive Communication & Governance

• Develop clear, executive-level narratives and reporting on R&D performance and strategy
• Prepare board-level updates, strategy reviews, and leadership materials
• Ensure alignment on priorities, trade-offs, and decisions across senior leadership
• Run governance forums (staff meetings, roadmap reviews, execution reviews)

5. Organizational Effectiveness

• Act with continuous improvement approach in planning, delivery management, and metric rigor. Help teams improve predictability and outcomes in a performance driven environment.
• Support organizational design and workforce planning (skills, hiring, outsourcing).
• Lead strategic initiatives such as R&D site expansions, Post-merger integrations
• Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and collaboration

6. Leadership Support

• Act as a delegate to the VP of R&D when required
• Support leadership communications, including town halls and strategic messaging
• Help steer organizational change and business transformation initiatives
• Operate with a high degree of autonomy, trust, and confidentiality

Education & Experiences

• Advanced degree (Master’s or PhD) in Electrical Engineering, Semiconductor Physics, or related field
• 15+ years of experience in semiconductor R&D, engineering leadership, or technology strategy
• Proven experience in leading complex programs or operations in a global, matrix organization
• Strong understanding of the end-to-end semiconductor lifecycle design → tape-out → manufacturing → test → yield ramp
• Experience with technology nodes, chip architecture, or system-level design
• Track record of driving cross-functional initiatives and operational improvements
• Sound judgment, discretion, and ability to operate with executive-level trust and confidentiality.
• Data-driven decision-making and KPI tracking
• Exceptional communication and influencing skills

Leadership & Functional Skills

• Strong strategic thinking combined with execution discipline
• Ability to translate complex technical topics into actionable business decisions
• Excellent stakeholder management and influence at executive level
• Proven ability to drive alignment without direct authority
• Data-driven mindset with strong performance management capabilities

Personal Attributes

• Trusted partner with high integrity and discretion
• Structured and highly organized, with a focus on clarity and simplicity
• Proactive, results-oriented, and comfortable operating in ambiguity
• Strong communicator, able to engage both technical and executive audiences
• Resilient and adaptable in a fast-paced, high-complexity environment

Impact & Success Measures

• Success in this role will be defined by:
• Clear and consistently executed R&D priorities and performance metrics
• Improved predictability and delivery of innovation milestones
• Faster and more effective decision-making across teams
• Strong executive confidence in R&D execution and reporting
• Enhanced collaboration across engineering, product, and business functions