Divisional Director - Product Development Europe in Bristol

Element has an exciting opportunity for a Divisional Director, Product Development (PD), to lead the successful operation and growth of the Division. This role is responsible and accountable for all Element business results within the defined area of influence. Reporting to the Vice President of the Business Unit, the Divisional Director will oversee and grow a $60m portfolio across approximately five laboratories in the UK and Europe. This is a senior leadership role with full profit-and-loss accountability, responsible for delivering outstanding customer outcomes, operational excellence, innovation, and strategic execution to drive sustained growth and profitability in line with Element’s strategic objectives.

The role requires a strong focus on providing clear tactical direction and leadership support, ensuring consistent alignment and execution across General Managers, while fostering a cohesive and highly effective partnership with the sales and commercial organisation. The successful candidate will act as a visible and decisive leader, setting standards for performance, collaboration, and accountability across the division. This position demands extensive experience within the Product Development and PQT industry, with a proven track record spanning acquisitions, operations, quality management, strategic planning, financial leadership, customer relationship management, and senior-level commercial engagement. The Divisional Director will play a critical role in shaping the future direction of the business and strengthening Element’s market position across Europe.

Responsibilities

• Run the 5 labs as a high-growth, high-margin and high-performance Division.
• Strategically grow the business with a focus on large-scale partnerships and projects with critical strategic customers, driving incremental growth for the division.
• Assure the safety of all colleagues and customers.
• Own the annual operational plan commitments, including revenues, profit, productivity, quality, customer delivery, staffing, and other operational performance areas, with a strong focus on accurate and timely forecasting.
• Establish and lead a customer-centric approach, in close partnership with the Commercial team, and measure progress towards relevant goals.
• Role model a strong commercial partnership and demonstrate how that partnership and shared actions drive budgeted growth.
• Provide leadership to assigned teams and demonstrate strong, strategic partnerships with Safety and Health, Quality, Finance, Human Resources, Sales, and Operational Excellence teams.
• Execute strategic and organisational goals as mutually defined with Element leadership team by translating corporate initiatives and plans into formal action plans for the area of influence.
• Drive continuous improvement with demonstrated results around an incident-free and safe working environment for colleagues, high first-time right performance, and excellent internal and external audit performance.
• Bring order, structure, and accountability through regular team meetings.
• Develop and foster a positive culture at relevant laboratories, bringing Element’s mission to life and leading in accordance with Element’s values.
• Provide strong personal leadership, mentorship, and developmental opportunities for assigned locations and colleagues.
• Attend and speak at industry and association meetings, identifying opportunities for lab colleagues to present papers, network, and share industry knowledge as thought leaders and trusted partners in the industry.
• Other duties as assigned to support the broader business and foster a collaborative team environment.

Skills / Qualifications

• BSc or MSc degree (or equivalent) in Engineering or a technical discipline; Master’s degree required.
• Relevant experience in the Aerospace, PD & PQT industry and Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) industry with previous significant managerial and leadership responsibility is essential.
• Demonstrable technical knowledge within the Energy industry.
• Demonstrable experience in leading and managing both a material testing operation essential.
• Must have demonstrated success in the writing of project plans and driving them to conclusion.
• Must have experience managing a project-driven business.
• Must be experienced in managing complex and sensitive issues.
• Must have knowledge of business improvement procedures, operational plans, technology implementation, and property relocation.
• Must be proficient in standard office software and computer systems.
• Ability to influence others towards action or a particular point of view.
• Knowledge of operational issues and concerns of the location supervised.
• Demonstrated strong interpersonal skills and listening ability to communicate effectively with all stakeholders.
• Exhibit the ability to encourage and sustain the high performance of employees and provide appropriate developmental opportunities.
• Ability to accept responsibility for location activities and outcomes.

Company Overview

Element is one of the fastest growing testing, inspection and certification businesses in the world. Globally we have more than 9,000 brilliant minds operating from 270 sites across 30 countries. Together we share an ambitious purpose to ‘Make tomorrow safer than today’. When failure in use is not an option, we help customers make certain that their products, materials, processes and services are safe, compliant and fit for purpose. From early R&D, through complex regulatory approvals and into production, our global laboratory network of scientists, engineers, and technologists support customers to achieve assurance over product quality, sustainable outcomes, and market access. While we are proud of our global reach, working at Element feels like being part of a smaller company. We empower you to take charge of your career, and reward excellence and integrity with growth and development. Industries across the world depend on our care, attention to detail and the absolute accuracy of our work. The role we have to play in creating a safer world is much bigger than our organization.

Diversity Statement

At Element, we always take pride in putting our people first. We are an equal opportunity employer that recognizes diversity and inclusion as fundamental to our Vision of becoming “the world’s most trusted testing partner”. All suitably qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment on the basis of objective work related criteria and without regard for the following: age, disability, ethnic origin, gender, marital status, race, religion, responsibility of dependents, sexual orientation, or gender identity or other characteristics in accordance with the applicable governing laws.