Job Description

About Us

Cottonelle®. Scott®. Kleenex®. Kotex®. Poise®. Huggies®. Depend®. Kimberly-Clark Professional®. You already know our legendary brands—and so does the rest of the world. In fact, millions of people use Kimberly-Clark products every day. We know these amazing Kimberly-Clark products wouldn’t exist without talented professionals, like you.

At Kimberly-Clark, you’ll be part of the best team committed to driving innovation, growth and impact. We’re founded on more than 150 years of market leadership, and we’re always looking for new and better ways to perform – so there’s your open door of opportunity. It’s all here for you at Kimberly-Clark.
Led by Purpose. Driven by You.

We’re out to create Better Care for a Better World, and that takes leaders and teams who care about making a difference. In the Senior Director, R& D, International Family Care & Professional, Tissue (Senior Director, R& D IFP Tissue) role, you’ll apply your professional expertise, talent, and drive to building and managing our portfolio of iconic, ground-breaking brands to help us deliver better care for billions of people around the world. It starts with YOU.

This role will be part of Kimberly-Clark's International Family Care and Professional (IFP) business—an organization rooted in purpose and innovation that has built a legacy with global impact. As Kimberly-Clark forms a strategic partnership with Suzano to create a world-class international tissue and professional products company, this role is proposed to transfer to the new venture once the transaction closes, anticipated in mid-2026, subject to consultation and other applicable legal requirements. This is a rare opportunity to help shape a new global leader backed by two industry powerhouses. You’ll be part of a high-potential business that combines Kimberly-Clark’s iconic brands and commercial excellence with Suzano’s industrial and sustainability leadership.
IFP, a soon to be formed Joint Venture, is headquartered in the United Kingdom with operations across 40+ markets and sales in over 70+ markets across Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Position Summary
The Senior Director, R& D IFP Tissue is responsible for setting the EMEA/ASIA/LATAM long term Tissue product portfolio strategy across Family Care brands and Professional Tissue in IFP – as well as managing the Research & Engineering priorities across IFP related to Tissue. This individual will report to the VP IFP R& D Innovation that reports to the President, IFP; and will be responsible for the strategic product portfolio to future proof growth with forward looking innovations for Tissue.

Role and Responsibilities
The Senior Director, R& D IFP Tissue has responsibility for entire R& D Tissue platform development, process & engineering, and product ownership of value stream and IMM. This role requires a highly collaborative leader with a performance driven mentality, who can work closely with regions, category and strategy teams to deliver winning consumer and customer centric innovation within our growth and multi-regional prioritized markets. This role is also the hub for R& D leadership in EMEA, focused on high engagement and being a desirable place to work.

More specifically, this leader will be responsible for:
• Setting and Delivering Innovation Goals: Ownership to define and execute short- and long-term strategic vision for Tissue innovation and delivering on the innovation plan. Active leader to manage the tissue portfolio with Category/Marketing leadership to drive the right prioritization of innovation at the right time, and partner in these discussions with IFP leadership team.
• Innovation Strategy Development: Work with Category Leaders to develop an innovation strategy in winning benefit spaces with consumer/customers that are fully connected to the brand foundations including innovation in sustainability. Ownership to drive 0-7 years Tissue innovation plan with internal and external partners to translate category insights to cost effective product innovation with a technology plan that achieves immediate and future growth targets. Ownership to develop the product innovation to business cases (cross functional) of what it would take to win in different markets.
• Resource Prioritization: Key partner t o IFP Leadership in portfolio management, resource/investment and innovation footprint management to drive focused innovation for growth. Accountable for plug and socket/wiring of tissue innovation to ensure the team has clarity and is empowered.
• A key member of the IFP R& D Team: A compelling communicator who can navigate the matrix environment effectively, proactively managing tradeoffs driven by operating in a matrix and seeks to understand objectives and challenges of other teams to drive for common ground. Proven influencing skills with the ability to inspire and engage Global, Regional and Local stakeholders, including senior executives across IFP globally. Ability to create and deliver succinct and persuasive presentations to senior stakeholders – including the Board of Directors and in Town Halls.
• Organizational Leadership: Develop and sustain talent. Create an environment to share and leverage best practice and knowledge sharing, foster an environment that motivates a diverse team to fully use its capabilities in achieving desired business results for IFP. Develop future leaders and functional capabilities to sustain the organization for the future. Build an empowered performance driven culture characterized by collaboration and multi-functional teamwork, agility, resilience, learning and a ‘can do’ mindset in support of achieving high performance levels. Leverage leadership and hold them to a higher standard as cultural enablers who build high-performing, diverse teams and infuse inclusion into how we work and make business decisions.

Professional Skills and Qualifications
The Senior Director, R& D IFP Tissue will bring demonstrated experience leading global R& D within a large, matrixed CPG environment, with a proven ability to translate category and commercial strategy into differentiated innovation and scalable platforms. This leader will have deep end‑to‑end product development and commercialization expertise, strong cross‑functional partnership capability, and a track record of delivering growth, productivity, and margin impact at scale. Experience leading globally distributed teams, developing technical talent, and operating within robust quality, regulatory, and governance frameworks is essential. The role requires a strategic, enterprise‑minded R& D leader who can balance consumer relevance, speed to market, sustainability, and technical risk while shaping the future of a global category. The ideal candidate will possess/be:
• Demonstrated R& D leadership experience within large scale global companies; ideally within Consumer Product Manufacturing; Food & Beverages; Paper & Forest Products; and/or Chemicals industries
• Forward-thinking leader with experience commercializing new products through purpose driven, consumer/customer-led innovation
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize innovative ideas resulting in viable solutions
• R& D business partner to peers and leadership across business functions and regions globally; ability to maximize the efficiency of a matrix environment
• Effective communicator and collaborative leader with a proven ability to unlock the power and creativity of a global R& D team
• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Chemistry or related field. Advanced Master’s or PhD degree is preferred

Location
The Senior Director, R& D IFP Tissue will be based in the United Kingdom or Europe.

Kimberly-Clark Ways of Working
• Focus on Consumers. We keep the needs of customers and consumers at the center of our work. Building strong customer relationships and delivering consumer-centric solutions. Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies that delight our consumers.
• Play to Win. We aim high, measure our results, and live our values because winning with integrity matters. Setting aggressive goals and consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances. Pushing past status quo to create new and better ways to solve problems and win.
• Move Fast. We turn decisions into action, remove barriers and seek progress over perfection. Stepping up to champion ideas, address difficult issues and say what needs to be said. Tackling challenges with a sense of urgency, seizing new opportunities, and scaling winning solutions.
• Grow our People. We champion inclusion and encourage our people to ideate, innovate and contribute to their growth. Encouraging diverse perspectives, experiences and backgrounds that enable our winning culture. Placing a high priority on developing self and others to meet career goals and the organization’s goals.

Total Benefits
We offer competitive pay and benefits to employees and reward excellence and performance. Our belief in promoting a healthy work-life balance drives us to support our employees’ total well-being, offering comprehensive benefits not limited to gym memberships, private medical insurance, dental cover, employee assistance programme, cycle to work scheme, critical illness cover, travel insurance and a market leading defined contribution pension scheme.

And finally, the small print…. For Kimberly-Clark to grow and prosper, we must be an inclusive organization that applies the diverse experiences and passions of its team members to brands that make life better for people all around the world. We actively seek to build a workforce that reflects the experiences of our consumers. When you bring your original thinking to Kimberly-Clark, you fuel the continued success of our enterprise. We are a committed equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, pregnancy, genetic information, citizenship status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

The statements above are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this classification. Statements are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities and skills required for this position.
Employment is subject to verification of pre-screening tests, which may include drug screening, background check, and DMV check.
Kimberly-Clark is a sponsor of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation Good Recruitment Campaign.
Kimberly-Clark will support global relocation for the chosen candidate for the role, including assistance to obtain
proper work authorization. The benefits provided will be per the terms of Kimberly-Clark’s applicable mobility
policies. The benefits/policy provided will be decided at Kimberly-Clark’s sole discretion.

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