Innovation Center Director

Trelleborg Medical Solutions is inviting applications for the position of Innovation Center Director for China.

The Innovation Center Director is responsible for leading the PingHu Innovation Center within a global network, serving as an engineering and technology hub supporting customer development, tooling excellence, advanced manufacturing solutions, automation, and strategic business growth. The role provides leadership for product and process innovation across medical device, life sciences, and other regulated markets while serving as a key technical partner to customers worldwide.

The Innovation Center Director leads all Innovation Center activities including product and tooling design, tool manufacturing, tool maintenance strategy, design for manufacturability (DFM), automation development, material technology advancement, quoting and estimating, and customer technical support. This leader will collaborate closely with Innovation Centers in the Americas and Europe to establish global standards, share best practices, and accelerate innovation across the organization.

The position serves as a strategic technical leader responsible for identifying emerging technologies, evaluating new materials and manufacturing processes, leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital engineering tools, and delivering innovative solutions that improve speed-to-market, manufacturing efficiency, quality, and customer satisfaction.

The successful candidate must possess deep knowledge of silicone and plastic materials, injection molding, transfer molding, tooling technologies, automation systems, and regulated manufacturing requirements, along with strong customer-facing and business leadership capabilities.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

Innovation and Engineering Leadership

•Lead the overall strategy, development, and execution of the PingHu Innovation Center.

•Establish the Innovation Center as a global center of excellence for tooling, advanced manufacturing technologies, and product development.

•Drive innovation initiatives that support growth within medical device, life sciences, and other regulated industries.

•Identify emerging technologies and manufacturing trends that create competitive advantages for the organization.

•Lead technology scouting activities and evaluate new equipment, software, materials, and manufacturing processes.

•Support corporate innovation roadmaps and long-term technology strategies.

Tool Design, Manufacturing, and Maintenance

•Direct all tool design, tool making, tool qualification, and tool maintenance activities.

•Ensure tooling solutions meet customer specifications, quality requirements, production objectives, and regulatory expectations.

•Oversee mold design for silicone molding, injection molding, transfer molding, and related manufacturing technologies.

•Establish global tooling standards, best practices, and continuous improvement initiatives.

•Drive improvements in tool life, tool performance, repeatability, and manufacturing efficiency.

•Collaborate with manufacturing operations to troubleshoot tool and process-related challenges.

Design for Manufacturing (DFM)

•Lead Design for Manufacturing reviews for new products and customer projects.

•Provide technical recommendations that improve manufacturability, quality, scalability, and cost competitiveness.

•Partner with customers during product development to optimize designs for production success.

•Support process validation and production readiness activities.

Customer Technical Engagement

•Act as a senior technical advisor and primary engineering interface for key customers.

•Participate in customer meetings, technical reviews, innovation workshops, and development programs.

•Translate customer requirements into practical engineering and manufacturing solutions.

•Support business development activities by presenting technical capabilities and innovation strategies.

•Build strong customer relationships that position the company as a preferred development and manufacturing partner.

Quoting, Estimating, and Business Support

•Lead engineering support for global quoting and estimating activities.

•Review customer requirements, drawings, specifications, and technical documentation.

•Develop tooling, development, automation, and manufacturing cost estimates.

•Support commercial teams with technical proposals and project risk assessments.

•Provide technical and financial input for strategic investment decisions.

Automation and Advanced Manufacturing

•Lead the development of in-house automation systems supporting manufacturing operations.

•Identify opportunities to improve productivity, quality, and capacity through automation.

•Direct automation projects from concept development through implementation and validation.

•Collaborate with manufacturing and operations teams to deploy scalable automation solutions globally.

•Support robotics, vision systems, process monitoring, and smart manufacturing initiatives.

Material Science and Process Technology

•Provide leadership in silicone, thermoplastic, elastomer, and specialty material technologies.

•Support material selection, qualification, validation, and optimization activities.

•Evaluate new materials and process technologies that enhance product performance and manufacturing capabilities.

•Partner with suppliers, research institutions, and industry experts to remain current on emerging material advancements.

Global Collaboration and Technical Leadership

•Collaborate with Innovation Centers located in the Americas and Europe to align strategies and capabilities.

•Lead and participate in global technical forums, engineering councils, and innovation workshops.

•Support knowledge sharing and standardization across global engineering organizations.

•Mentor engineering teams and develop high-potential technical talent.

•Promote a culture of innovation, collaboration, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.

Artificial Intelligence and Digital Engineering

•Champion the use of AI-powered engineering tools to accelerate innovation, design, quoting, customer responsiveness, and decision-making.

•Evaluate and implement AI technologies that improve engineering productivity and reduce development timelines.

•Leverage AI-driven analytics to improve tooling performance, process development, and predictive maintenance programs.

•Promote the responsible and compliant use of AI technologies within engineering and regulated manufacturing environments.

•Drive adoption of digital engineering tools, simulation technologies, digital twins, and advanced design platforms.

Education and Experience:

•Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Engineering, Polymer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, or related technical discipline required.

•Master's degree preferred.

•Advanced certifications in tooling, plastics processing, project management, automation, or innovation management are desirable

•Minimum 15 years of engineering and manufacturing experience.

•Minimum 7 years of progressive leadership experience managing engineering, tooling, innovation, or technical organizations.

•Demonstrated expertise in silicone and thermoplastic materials and related manufacturing processes.

•Strong experience with injection molding, transfer molding, compression molding, and tooling technologies.

•Experience supporting regulated industries such as medical devices, healthcare, pharmaceutical, diagnostics, life sciences, or similar industries.

•Experience leading customer-facing product development programs.

•Proven success in automation development and implementation.

•Experience with project estimation, quoting, and business case development.

•Knowledge of Design Controls, Risk Management, GMP, ISO 13485, FDA regulations, MDR, or comparable regulated frameworks preferred.

•Experience working within global, matrixed organizations.

•Ability to communicate effectively in English; Mandarin proficiency strongly preferred.

Competencies

Leadership

•Strategic Leadership

•Innovation Leadership

•Global Collaboration

•Organizational Development

•Talent Development

•Change Management

•Decision Making

Technical Expertise

•Tool Design and Tooling Technologies

•Mold Design and Manufacturing

•Silicone Processing

•Thermoplastic Processing

•Injection Molding

•Transfer Molding

•Design for Manufacturing (DFM)

•Materials Science

•Automation Systems

•Robotics Integration

•Product Development

•Advanced Manufacturing Technologies

Business Acumen

•Estimating and Quoting

•Capital Investment Planning

•Cost Modeling

•Strategic Planning

•Customer Relationship Management

•Project Portfolio Management

•Technology Road mapping

Digital and AI Competencies

•Artificial Intelligence Applications

•Digital Engineering Tools

•Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)

•Advanced Analytics

•Predictive Maintenance

•Simulation and Modeling

•Data-Driven Decision Making

•Digital Transformation

Interpersonal Skills

•Executive Communication

•Customer Focus

•Influencing Skills

•Negotiation

•Cross-Functional Collaboration

•Problem Solving

•Presentation Skills