وصف الوظيفة
Role Overview
Principal Specialist, Innovation Translation at Ma'aden, based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Role Purpose
The Principal Specialist – Innovation Translation bridges the gap between scientific discovery and industrial deployment by transforming high-potential technologies into scalable, investment-ready business solutions. The role ensures innovation opportunities are technically proven, economically viable, and operationally integrated before significant capital is committed to industrial implementation. Through rigorous techno-economic assessment and maturity governance, the role strengthens Ma'aden's ability to commercialize emerging technologies while minimizing delivery, operational, and investment risks.
Key Responsibilities
Technology Translation & Scale-Up
- Establish scalable pathways that convert scientific concepts into industrially deployable solutions.
- Build robust design bases, operating parameters, performance criteria, and scale-up frameworks that enable confident progression through maturity stages.
- Accelerate technology maturation while minimizing unnecessary cost, time, and development risk.
- Prove technologies are prepared for successful industrial adoption through robust engineering-ready design information and handover packages.
- Safeguard validated technology intent throughout engineering, commissioning, and first-of-a-kind deployment activities.
Techno-Economic Value Creation
- Develop and maintain integrated techno-economic models that quantify value, risk, and investment attractiveness.
- Strengthen investment decisions by providing clear assessments of economic viability, performance assumptions, and critical value drivers.
- Enable evidence-based prioritization through continuous refinement of business cases and value realization forecasts.
Maturity Governance & Risk Reduction
- Establish structured maturity assessment frameworks that guide progression from pilot validation to industrial deployment.
- Reduce technical and commercial uncertainty through disciplined experimentation, testing, and readiness reviews.
- Provide objective recommendations on progression, redesign, partnership, acceleration, or termination of innovation opportunities.
Industrial Integration & Deployment Readiness
- Define technology integration requirements across process, operational, infrastructure, maintenance, and control environments.
- Ensure technologies are prepared for successful industrial adoption through robust engineering-ready design information and handover packages.
Strategic Technical Leadership
- Provide expert technical leadership that strengthens decision quality across innovation programs and technology investments.
- Challenge assumptions, validate technical claims, and apply rigorous scientific and engineering evaluation to complex opportunities.
- Embed fact-based decision-making, technical discipline, and continuous learning across the innovation portfolio.
Ecosystem Development & Knowledge Transfer
- Build high-value partnerships with technology providers, research institutions, OEMs, and specialist organizations.
- Accelerate technology development by leveraging external expertise and innovation ecosystems.
- Capture and transfer scale-up knowledge, lessons learned, and best practices across innovation initiatives.
Qualifications & Experience
Education
- Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Mining Engineering, Mineral Processing, Mechanical Engineering, Process Engineering, or a closely related applied science discipline.
- Advanced technical degree is strongly preferred.
Experience
- 10+ years of experience in technology development, industrial innovation, process engineering, R&D scale-up, or project development environments.
- Experience leading pilot, demonstration, and/or first industrial deployment initiatives.
- Proven experience translating laboratory or pilot concepts into industrial-scale applications and operating environments.
- Experience within mining, metallurgy, mineral processing, extractive technologies, industrial processing, or other asset-intensive sectors.
Skills & Competencies
Functional Expertise
- Technology Translation & Commercialization
- Industrial Scale-Up Methodologies
- Process Engineering & Process Design
- Techno-Economic Analysis
- Technology Readiness & Maturity Management
- First-of-a-Kind Deployment
Business & Delivery
- Investment Evaluation & Business Case Development
- Risk & Uncertainty Management
- Value Realization Assessment
- Strategic Decision Support
- Systems Thinking
- Portfolio Maturity Governance
People & Collaboration
- Technical Leadership
- Cross-Functional Influence
- Stakeholder Engagement
- External Partnership Management
- Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
- Knowledge Transfer & Capability Building
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