Technology Group Lead

Job Summary

The Technology Group Lead will oversee and mentor a team of early career researchers focused on advanced materials innovation, driving high-impact strategic technology development. This role requires strong technical acumen, leadership skills, and the ability to translate emerging science into actionable research directions aligned with corporate priorities. The Technology Group Lead will foster collaboration across internal and external stakeholders, ensuring projects progress through defined stage-gate processes. Success in this position will be measured by the team's ability to deliver high-impact insights and prototypes that shape the company's future technology portfolio.

Essential Functions

• Champion a culture of safety, respect, and integrity, modeling these behaviors daily and ensuring your team consistently upholds them.
• Inspire and mentor a team of researchers by providing handson technical guidance that nurtures curiosity, builds capability, and accelerates professional growth.
• Contribute to strategic project planning and execution, guiding research initiatives through a structured stagegate innovation process to deliver impactful outcomes.
• Communicate project milestones, insights, and challenges effectively to senior leadership, transforming complex scientific advancements into clear, actionable updates.
• Identify emerging technology trends, recognizing opportunities that can shape the future of advanced materials and strengthen Avient's technology pipeline.
• Cultivate an environment where innovation thrives by encouraging collaboration, experimentation, knowledgesharing, and continuous improvement within the team and across the organization.
• Contribute flexibly and proactively to the broader goals of the technology organization through additional responsibilities that support evolving business needs.
• Ensure documentation of inventive work by reviewing and submitting timely invention records and identifying adjacent white space opportunities to strengthen the Intellectual property portfolio.
• Other duties as assigned.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Ensures safety including conducting regular meetings and area safety reviews.
• Writes and delivers performance evaluations.
• Ensures formulation accuracy.
• Administers project assignments and follow ups.
• Provides leadership and direction to direct reports to ensure priorities and overall business objectives are accomplished on time and at minimal cost.
• Assists technologist with real time lab tests.
• Ensures consistency in project data collection by technologists.
• Ensures safe operating procedures are in place and up-to-date for all process equipment.
• Coordinates training for new employees and cross training for existing employees.
• Ensures all communications reach all employees.
• Responsible for handling, loading, unloading hazardous materials and preparing hazardous materials for shipment. Will be required to undergo annual training related to hazardous material handling.

Physical/Environ. Demands

Physical Demands

The characteristics listed below are representative of the physical demands required by an individual to successfully perform the essential duties of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk; stoop; kneel; crouch or crawl; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; talk and/or hear.
• Occasionally required to sit.
• The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 55 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus, and ability to differentiate color.

Work Environment

The characteristics listed below are representative of the work environment typically encountered by an individual while performing the essential duties of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.

• Requires the use of safety equipment as dictated by the work area such as safety glasses and shoes, dust mask, hard hat, respirator, face shield, hearing protection, chemical suit, gloves, aprons, etc.
• Work is inside and the typical noise level is loud. Regularly exposed to moving mechanical parts and fumes or airborne particles. The employee is frequently exposed to vibration. The employee is occasionally exposed to toxic or caustic chemicals and risk of electrical shock.

Education and Experience

• Ph. D. (preferred) in chemistry, material science, chemical engineering or other related field and 5+ years of related, progressively responsible experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience in industry (preferred) or academia.

• Requires a strong working knowledge of the polymer and/or advanced materials industry.

Additional Qualifications

• Experience operating within a stagegate innovation framework and advancing concepts from discovery to validated prototypes.
• Demonstrated depth in polymer/materials science (e.g., structure-property relationships, compounding/formulation, rheology, thermal/mechanical properties, durability testing).
• Track record of scouting emerging technology trends and converting them into differentiated opportunities.
• Passion for mentoring and developing talent.
• Proven ability to communicate to senior leadership with clarity and business relevance.

Physical Demands

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk; stoop; kneel; crouch or crawl; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; talk and/or hear.

• Occasionally required to sit.

• The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 55 pounds.

• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus, and ability to differentiate color.

• Up to 10% of travel may be required based on business need.

Our purpose at Avient Corporation is to be an innovator of materials solutions that help our customers succeed, while enabling a sustainable world.

Innovation goes far beyond materials science; it's powered by the passion, creativity, and diverse expertise of 9,000 professionals worldwide. Whether you're a finance wizard, a tech enthusiast, an operational powerhouse, an HR changemaker, or a trailblazer in materials development, you'll find your place at Avient.

Join our global team and help shape the future with sustainable solutions that transform possibilities into realities. Your unique perspective could be the key to our next breakthrough!

We believe that all of our global employees are leaders and that the six most important behaviors for driving our strategy and culture are the same no matter if an employee is a leader of self, a leader of others, or a leader of the business.

By playing to win, acting customer centric, driving innovation and profitable growth, collaborating seamlessly across Avient, and motivating and inspiring and developing others and yourself you will accelerate your ability to achieve Avient's strategic goals, to meet our customer needs, and to accomplish your career goals.

At Avient, we believe a wide variety of thoughts, ideas and backgrounds gives us the creativity to be successful in a rapidly changing world. In support of this, we stress equality of opportunity for all qualified individuals in accordance with applicable laws. Decisions on hiring, promotion, development, compensation or advancement are based solely on a person's qualifications, abilities, experience and performance.

Avient is an equal opportunity employer. We maintain a policy of non-discrimination in providing equal employment to all qualified employees and candidates regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, color, religion, national origin, disability, genetic information, protected veteran's status, or other legally protected classification in accordance with applicable federal, state and local law. If you need an accommodation because of a disability to complete an online application, please contact the Avient HR Team by emailing, ApplicationAccommodation@Avient.com.