Group Leader - Material Characterization Lab

What Timken makes possible begins with you.
Those who came before us helped land a man on the moon, create the world's infrastructure, and introduce renewable energy alternatives. Now you can join the Timken team to write your own unique story and help drive what's next.

A career at Timken means you can have an immediate impact doing Work That Matters to the world— improving the efficiency of today's industrial equipment and preparing for the future of motion on our planet and beyond. New employees can start contributing right away, and there are many opportunities to advance your career at your own pace. Join our global team of 19,000 people in 45 countries, and start helping our customers push the limits of what's possible in their world of motion.

The Group Leader for Material Characterization Laboratory provides leadership for a world‑class materials and metallurgical laboratory equipped with advanced characterization and testing instruments. Capabilities include, but are not limited to: immersion ultrasonic testing, nondestructive testing, automated inclusion analysis, metallography, fractography, hardness & mechanical testing, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, nanoindentation testing, rheological testing, tribological testing, corrosion testing, x-ray diffractometry, spectrometry, thermal processing, and dilatometry. This role is responsible for ensuring operational excellence, advancing laboratory capabilities, and aligning people, resources, and investments with current and future business and technology needs. 

Essential Responsibilities: 

Lab leadership & technical excellence 

• Align team objectives and metrics to the Timken Roadmap; report progress regularly.
• Maintain advanced characterization capabilities with strong readiness, data quality, and safety. 
• Provide technical oversight and materials characterization SME support. 
• Operate critical instruments as needed to support investigations and projects. 
• Improve methods, throughput, and data integrity. 

Work prioritization & business alignment 

• Prioritize work to meet business, R&D, and operations needs; support critical programs.
• Balance near-term support with long-term capability development.
• Align capacity and priorities with internal customers and organizational goals. 

Capability advancement & external engagement

• Build networks with academia, labs, suppliers, and professional societies.
• Represent the lab externally; identify emerging tech and drive upgrades.
• Create partnerships that expand capability and accelerate innovation. 

Resource management

• Maintain training plans and skill-coverage matrices for critical competencies.
• Develop talent, manage performance, and succession.
• Manage expense and capital budgets; build business cases for investments. 

Capital & asset management

• Plan resources, manage capacity, and set priorities.
• Ensure preventive maintenance, calibration, and lifecycle planning for key assets.
• Lead safety programs, audits, and corrective actions.

Safety, 5S & compliance

• Sustain 5S and audit routines for a clean, efficient lab.
• Meet EHS, quality, and audit requirements; keep the lab audit-ready.
• Develop and maintain lab procedures, policies, and standards. 

Technical Skills:

• Proficient in technical writing with demonstrated strong oral presentation skills.
• Proficient in the use of applicable business software.
• Experience in project management with ability to drive timely completion of projects.
• Demonstrated expertise in at least one of the core areas of microscopy, diffraction, failure analysis, and mechanical testing.
• Demonstrated hard worker with an excellent work ethic.
• Demonstrated excellent people skills and leadership ability.
• Detail oriented, accurate, and thorough
• Ability to be fair and consistent.
• Change champion.
• Abide by, support, and enforce company policies. 

Qualifications: 

Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Physics, Materials Science or related field with 8 years of experience, or, 
Master's degree in Chemical Engineering, Physics, Materials Science or related field with 5 years of experience

All qualified applicants shall be treated equally according to their individual qualifications, abilities, experiences and other employment standards. There will be no discrimination due to gender or gender identity, race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran/military status or any other basis protected by applicable law.