Expert Details
Business R&D, Open Innovation & Technology Transfer
ID: 740239
California, USA
Expert is currently an Executive Recruiter at an executive search firm that specializes in the technical sector of the food and consumer products industry. She is highly experienced with retained and exclusive searches for technical roles within the food, packaging, and engineering sectors. Her background in technology and chemistry has been instrumental in assessing candidate qualifications and matching them with client needs.
Previously, she worked as a Research Director and Global Technology Broker at Armored AutoGroup, where she oversaw the startup of global regulatory programs, coordinated R&D activities, and managed technology sourcing. Her prior role at Clorox involved using open innovation to secure external technologies for consumer products across multiple business lines. Additionally, Expert's tenure at DuPont showcased her ability to blend technical expertise with business acumen. She held various roles, including R&D Chemist, Technical Service Chemist, Account Manager, and Product Development Manager. Her work led to multiple successful product launches, market growth, and strategic partnerships.
Throughout her career, Expert has maintained a commitment to professional development, earning certifications such as Six Sigma Green Belt and participating in leadership training. Her background in chemistry, coupled with her business skills, positions her as a versatile leader capable of bridging technical and commercial objectives.
Education
| Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year: 1994 | Degree: PhD | Subject: Chemistry | Institution: University of California, San Diego |
| Year: 1993 | Degree: MS | Subject: Chemistry | Institution: University of California, San Diego |
| Year: 1991 | Degree: BS | Subject: Chemistry | Institution: University of California, Davis |
Work History
| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years: 2012 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: Executive Recruiter | Department: |
Responsibilities:• Work with top food companies and startups on retained and exclusive searches for food science, technical sales, packaging, engineering, and management positions.• Assess technical and leadership background of candidates to match with clients’ expectations for open positions. • Engage in a broad range of position levels, from junior candidates right out of college to seasoned professionals looking for VP/Director placements. • Perform reference checks, built relationships with clients and candidates, prepped candidates for each step of the interview process, and helped negotiate offers. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2010 to 2012 | Employer: Armored AutoGroup (formerly Clorox) | Title: Research Director / Global Technology Broker | Department: |
Responsibilities:• Aided in the transition and startup of a Clorox carve out of the Auto Care business (Armor All® and STP®) to private equity ownership.• Responsibility for sourcing technology for front end R&D work, starting up a global regulatory compliance program, and global R&D coordination of three regions. Hired and managed R&D staff. • Acted as site paralegal to ensure all nondisclosure agreements were in place and coordinated patent activity during the transition. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2008 to 2010 | Employer: Clorox Services Company | Title: Technology Broker - Sourcing and Partnering | Department: |
Responsibilities:• Used open innovation tactics to identify and secure external technologies and partners to enable more efficient launches of consumer products. Helped drive discovery and commercialization charters.• Delivered on the technical and partnership needs of five different businesses (pet care, food products, charcoal, water filtration, and automotive products). • Negotiated numerous nondisclosure agreements, technical service agreements, and joint development agreements. Managed academic research partnerships including one with the USDA. • Worked on valuation of IP to build business cases for technology licensing agreements. Familiarity with IP searching tools like Aureka and the USPTO site. • Managed strategic supplier relationships, created business strategies and execution of the plans, aided social media adoption, and was liaison with the partnership office in charge of brand outlicensing. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2006 to 2008 | Employer: DuPont StoneTech Professional | Title: Product Development / Technical Service Manager | Department: |
Responsibilities:• Technical lead for StoneTech® business, a stone care business marketed to professionals and homeowners.• Sole R&D representative to the leadership team that oversaw the strategic direction of the business. • Managed four full time and one part time employee for the R&D and the technical service organizations, some who were remotely located. • Launched four new products and reformulated 12 existing products to fill market needs, make formulas more sustainable, and increase the margin of safety. • Helped to launch product lines in retail channels like DIY warehouses, mass, grocery, club, and home shopping networks. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2005 to 2006 | Employer: DuPont Liquid Packaging Systems | Title: Account Manager | Department: |
Responsibilities:• Worked with Northern California customers in dairy, beverage, wine, water, and tomato processing to aid them in their liquid packaging needs.• Sold flexible standard and aseptic bag packaging, rigid water containers and filler machines. • Interfaced closely with the local California plant and technical teams to create new offerings and minimize quality and logistic issues at the customers. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2001 to 2005 | Employer: The Solae Company (DuPont Protein Technologies) | Title: Account Manager | Department: |
Responsibilities:• Responsible for food industry buying accounts, marketers, contract manufacturers, and a West Coast distributor in the Western United States, accounting for $25MM revenue annually, one of the largest territories in North America.• Sales revenue grew from $11MM in 2001 to $16MM in 2003 (45% growth). Achieved$25 MM in 2004. • Worked with two of the top energy bar marketers, one of the largest food companies in the world, and two large contract manufacturers in California. • Secured numerous multi-year supply agreements and branding contracts. • Work with many buying influences, including senior management, purchasing, R&D, and manufacturing, to build relationships, introduce new offerings, and identify new projects for Solae’s products. • Received internal “Million Lb. Club” award in 2002 for growing business more than a million pounds from the previous year (actual growth was 2.6 million lbs.). • Six Sigma Black Belt team member for top line growth at the customer. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1999 to 2000 | Employer: DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise | Title: Technical Service Chemist | Department: |
Responsibilities:• Visited various customers serving as the technical liaison for both the Vazo Free Radical Initiators and dimethyl sulfate (DMS) businesses.• Represented the Vazo business at industry trade shows in order to develop customer leads, build business visibility, and research new market segment opportunities. • Served as primary point of contact for customer technical support for both Vazo and DMS businesses with responsibilities for delivering solutions resulting in revenue growth of $500,000. • Contributed to market segmentation and positioning work, a new product introduction into the marketplace, monitoring customer trials of the new offering, and business team participation with direct input in business strategy development and technology planning. • Acted as lead technical representative for ten year horizon business planning for Methylamines and DMS businesses. Also functioned as product technology resource for value based offering development to explore top line growth in the Vazo business. • Created and updated customer literature and maintained the Vazo web site and customer databases. • Responsible for product stewardship “cradle to grave” issues. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1998 to 2000 | Employer: DuPont Specialty Chemicals | Title: R&D Chemist | Department: |
Responsibilities:• Supported Vazo, DMS, and Methylamines businesses simultaneously including the management of four technicians on daily laboratory work.• Designed and performed laboratory experiments that enabled the launch of a new azo initiator offering in the Vazo business. • Through quality testing of all production material, acted as the decision maker for release of new product lots to the marketplace. • Participated on a Six Sigma Quality Improvement team as a technical resource. |
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Career Accomplishments
| Associations / Societies |
|---|
| • Former Member, American Chemical Society (ACS) • Former Member, Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) |
| Licenses / Certifications |
|---|
| • Six Sigma Green Belt |
| Professional Appointments |
|---|
| • Non-Profit Board of Directors, Dance Mission Theater • Past Chapter President & Service VP, Alpha Phi Omega |
| Publications and Patents Summary |
|---|
| Publications available upon request. |
Additional Experience
| Training / Seminars |
|---|
| Expert's training experience includes: Six Sigma Green Belt training; Face To Face Selling course; Basic Selling Skills course; Negotiating Skills with Karrass Training; Dale Carnegie Sales Training; Licensing Executive Society (LES) Fundamentals of Intellectual Asset Management; and leadership training. |
| Other Relevant Experience |
|---|
| Expert is a blackbelt in Taekwondo and Hapkido. |