Senior Manager, R&D Handheld Radiation Detection (Defense) at Thermo Fisher

Senior Manager Of R&D

As part of the Thermo Fisher Scientific team, you'll discover meaningful work that makes a positive impact on a global scale. Join our colleagues in bringing our Mission to life every single day to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We provide our global teams with the resources needed to achieve individual career goals while helping to take science a step beyond by developing solutions for some of the world's toughest challenges, like protecting the environment, making sure our food is safe or helping find cures for cancer.

The Senior Manager of R&D will lead a multidisciplinary engineering team responsible for the design, development, and commercialization of portable and stationary radiation detection, identification, and dosimetry products. This role will drive innovation from concept through product launch, while collaborating with other R&D teams to support the development and execution of key projects.

The ideal candidate combines strong technical depth with proven leadership capability, enabling effective cross-functional collaboration and delivery of complex, high-performance instrumentation in regulated environments.

Lead and develop a multidisciplinary R&D team (mechanical, electrical, firmware, systems) in the development of new products and maintenance of existing products.

Drive end-to-end product development for handheld radiation detection and identification systems, from concept through commercialization.

Define technical strategy, architecture, and development roadmaps aligned with business objectives.

Partner cross-functionally with product management, manufacturing, quality, and regulatory teams to ensure successful product launches.

Foster innovation in detection technologies, signal processing, and system performance.

Ensure compliance with relevant regulatory standards and industry requirements (e.g., radiation safety, defense, homeland security).

Establish and maintain engineering best practices, including design controls, documentation, and verification/validation processes.

Education & Experience

MS or PhD in engineering, Physics, or related field

8+ years of R&D experience, including 3+ years leading technical teams.

Proven track record delivering complex hardware/software products to market.

Desired Technical Skills

Strong systems engineering mindset with experience integrating hardware, embedded firmware, and algorithms.

Experience with ruggedized or field-deployed instrumentation.

Background in radiation detection, nuclear instrumentation, or related physics-based systems.

Knowledge of signal processing, data analysis, or isotope identification techniques.

Experience with ruggedized or field-deployed systems.

Key Skills

Leadership: Builds high-performing teams and drives accountability.

Execution: Delivers complex programs on time in fast-paced environments.

Customer Focus: Designs with mission success and end-user needs in mind.

Collaboration: Influences across functions and communicates with impact.

Innovation: Brings new ideas to advance performance and capability.