Research and development department staff

R&D department staff structure
Depending on the company specialization the staff of R&D department may include various employees and specialists, however, there are main positions which are usual for R&D department of an organization. The duties and responsibilities of the positions can also vary. For example, R&D engineers working at pharmaceutical companies are specialized in chemistry and pharmaceutics, while their colleagues working at software development companies should be familiar with software maintenance and development. In this context, the best way to identify staff of the R&D department and their responsibilities is to look at the staff from the point of project management roles. Then there may be the following staff structure:

Director of R&D. Key tasks and responsibilities include:

1. Development of R&D strategy
2. Development and implementation of polices for research management
3. Ensuring that the policies fulfil obligations stated in signed contracts
4. Development of research capability and capacity
5. Maintenance and development of R&D cooperation with business partners, universities, etc.

R&D Manager.Main responsibilities are:

1. R&D project management
2. Coordination of development programmes and research activity
3. Management of R&D approvals for researches
4. Auditing of research activity for compliance with the approvals
5. Operational management of the department

R&D Coordinator.Main responsibilities are:

1. Coordinating the management of the R&D approvals system
2. Assisting R&D Manager to manage research activity
3. Supervising R&D engineers, researchers and other staff in the R&D projects
4. Recording details of projects on common R&D database
5. Processing R&D approvals and providing information on the progress of R&D approval

R&D Engineer. Primary responsibilities include:

1. Participation in development of new products
2. Development of demos and prototypes for showcases and exhibitions
3. Prepare concepts and marketing materials to customers
4. Perform testing and record all issues

R&D Research Scientist. Main duties and responsibilities are:

1. Devising and conducting experiments
2. Conducting researches to gather user requirements and needs
3. Processing and analysing research data
4. Collaborating with partners/universities to apply the research outcomes and develop new products or solutions
5. Development of new research proposals

R&D Technician. The responsibilities are as follows:

1. Carrying out validations of R&D projects
2. Products evaluation and integration
3. Conduct component and equipment testing
4. Assist in preparing solutions for customers upon request

R&D department resource list
The listed positions of R&D department build staff structure. The department should have a staff list or a list of human resources involved in R&D projects. VIP Task Manager is project management software which allows to build the resource list of R&D department and register every employee in single database. In Resource List of the software you can add detailed information for human resources involved in the projects. A new record on a resource includes such information as Name, Job Title, Email Address, Department, Phone, etc. as well as project role and supervision rights. VIP Task Manager allows to restrict or privilege a role and use delegation of powers during a project. Resource List view can be printed out or exported to MS Excel.

1. >> Research and development department staff
2. Research and development department functions
3. Researches for and development of new products
4. Product maintenance and improvement
5. Quality and regulatory compliance