Senior Manager - Product Development

Job Description

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of product development engineers, building technical depth, accountability, and a strong pipeline of future leaders.
• Translate business and technology priorities into clear team goals, resource plans, and measurable performance expectations.
• Contribute to annual budget development and manage people, spending, and equipment resources to deliver the portfolio.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, knowledge sharing, and technical excellence across organizational boundaries.

• Own delivery of the product development portfolio, from concept through qualification and commercialization, in line with the stage-gate process and approved scope, schedule, risk, and business objectives.
• Facilitate stage-gate execution using agile methods, including backlog prioritization, sprint or iteration planning, regular reviews, and transparent progress reporting, in partnership with Program Management.
• Monitor project health, identify technical and execution risks early, and lead recovery plans with mills, finishing locations, Application Engineering, Commercial, and Research when milestones slip.
• Guide material design recommendations, including steel composition and processing routes that use existing, new, or upgraded manufacturing facilities.
• Establish standard methods for laboratory investigation, process simulation, and plant trials to support new grade development and existing grade improvement.
• Improve the manufacturability, quality, and key performance characteristics of existing products.

• Manage the RFRS process end to end: intake, triage, prioritization, resourcing, investigation, and closure of challenging mill and trade-related issues.
• Direct product development engineers working with Research laboratories to reach root cause, define corrective actions, and communicate findings clearly to mill, customer, and commercial stakeholders.
• Track RFRS cycle time, backlog, and outcomes, and use the lessons learned to prevent recurrence and inform future product and process design.

• Champion practical use of AI, machine learning, and data analytics in steel product development, such as alloy and process design, property prediction, defect and root cause analysis, and mining of historical mill, lab, and customer data.
• Evaluate and adopt AI tools, including generative AI and coding assistants, that improve engineer productivity, technical documentation, and knowledge capture, with attention to data quality, validation, and responsible use.
• Integrate AI with established metallurgical tools such as process simulation, computational thermodynamics, and integrated computational materials engineering (ICME), keeping human technical judgment at the center of decisions.
• Build team capability by coaching engineers on data literacy and AI-assisted workflows, and partner with Research, IT, and data science groups to scale what works.

• Bachelor’s degree in materials science, metallurgy, metallurgical engineering, or a related technical field; a master’s degree or PhD is preferred.
• 15 or more years of steel industry experience, including significant product development experience taking products from concept through qualification and commercialization.
• Strong knowledge of steel products, ferrous metallurgy, microstructure development, and steel manufacturing and finishing processes.
• Demonstrated experience leading technical professionals and multidisciplinary teams, setting priorities, developing talent, and delivering results through others.
• Experience with stage-gate governance, risk management, resource planning, and budget development.
• Proven ability to lead root cause investigations of complex mill or customer issues and to mobilize cross-functional teams to resolve them.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to influence technical teams, plant operations, customers, and senior leaders.

• Hands-on or leadership experience applying AI, machine learning, or advanced data analytics to materials, manufacturing, or quality problems, or a clear record of championing new digital tools within a technical team.
• Working familiarity with agile methods (for example Scrum or Kanban) applied to technical or R&D work; agile or project management certification is a plus.
• Experience with hot strip mill processing, continuous annealing and galvanizing lines, and advanced high-strength steels.
• Experience with process simulation, computational materials tools, and laboratory characterization techniques.
• Experience with automotive, tubular, or other trade customer qualification and technical support.

• Work is performed in a modern office, laboratory, and manufacturing environment with access to process simulators, analytical tools, and test equipment.
• Flexibility in work hours and travel of up to 20% for plant trials, mill and customer meetings, and collaboration with partner sites.

Competency Summary

At U. S. Steel all employees are expected to display the following core competencies every day to advance corporate, team and individual goals:

Think: Think Critically and Drive Change
Lead:Develop Talent and Collaborate
Do: Empower Performance and Deliver Results

Company Overview

Since 1901, U. S. Steel has been a recognized leader in steel production. Today, as the first North American steel company to have declared a 2050 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goal, we remain as innovative as ever, leading transformation across our industry while continuing to make products for everyday life - from industries as far ranging as automotive, construction, containers and packaging, appliances, and energy.

Underneath it all is our Culture of Caring, which shows up in our community partnerships, charitable contributions, company-sponsored employee volunteer initiatives, scholarship programs, leadership training, and much more. And of course, it takes shape in a steadfast commitment to safety first in our workplaces and respect for our employees, who are United by Steel.

We are honored to have earned accolades and awards from well-regarded organizations, including the following:

• Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies® 2022, ’23, ‘24
• Disability: IN’s Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion 2021, ’22, ’23, ‘24
• Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Equality 100 Award 2020, ’21, ’22, ’23-24, ‘25
• Military Times’ Best for Vets: Employers 2023, ‘24

Conducting business with integrity and with the highest ethical values has underpinned U. S. Steel’s success for over 100 years, and it remains critical to our company’s success in the future. U. S. Steel is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is our policy to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) according to job qualifications without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, genetics, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, disability status or status as a protected Veteran or any other legally protected group status. (California residents may visitwww.ussteel.com/CANotice regarding collection of personal information and U. S. Steel's privacy practices.)