R&D Director (Composite Materials)

Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; onsite at the Salt Lake City Fibers facility

Company

hirify.global develops and manufactures advanced lightweight composite materials, including carbon fiber, resins, prepregs, honeycombs, and engineered composite structures for global markets and commercial aerospace.

What you will do

• Lead qualification, testing, lifecycle management, and change validation for materials and manufacturing processes across the Americas and Global Fibers regions.
• Manage multidisciplinary technical teams, laboratory operations, resources, budgets, capital investments, facilities, and equipment assets.
• Oversee equipment qualification, testing method development, data quality, analysis, reporting, and laboratory readiness.
• Provide technical leadership in composite materials, polymers, material performance, customer approvals, specification compliance, and technical issue resolution.
• Own quality management systems and ensure compliance with customer requirements, regulatory standards, AS9100, and EHS programs.
• Drive continuous improvement through RCCA, Lean, 5S, Six Sigma, and data-driven performance management.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering, Polymer Chemistry, or a related technical discipline; a Ph.D. is preferred.
• At least 5 years of experience in testing, qualification engineering, or related technical leadership roles.
• Strong knowledge of materials science, data analysis, troubleshooting, validation methodologies, materials testing, qualification processes, and method development.
• Experience leading laboratory operations, technical teams, and complex testing environments.
• Experience with quality systems, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement methodologies such as Lean, RCCA, and Six Sigma.
• Must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, qualifying temporary resident, refugee, or person granted asylum.

Culture & Benefits

• Work in a culture focused on safety, inclusion, accountability, innovation, continuous learning, and continuous improvement.
• Lead talent development, coaching, succession planning, and organizational effectiveness initiatives.
• Collaborate across a matrix organization with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Support research, product development, customer qualification, and sustained product performance activities.