What it is:
a small team to demonstrate new ideas, working with internal teams, external tech companies, customers, and others (crowdsourcing)
a team to focus on cross-silo extensions and new white space areas
an opportunity for our best people to develop and broaden their thinking
a place only for our best talent
a place where projects are managed under VC model - fixed milestones tied to funding
What it is not:
a replacement for innovation and product innovation in the Business Units
an ivory tower central R&D lab
a place for misfit employees
a place where everything is built in house
a place employees can work for more than a year
The Director of Research and Development position is a management position reporting directly to the Global CTO.
Desired Skills and Experience
Focus on making AOL the next generation open company - turning everyone into creators of apps/widgets/code, content, and ideas.
Champion a culture of curiosity, creativity, innovation, experimentation, exploration, and perseverance.
Responsible for planning and managing a research and development program for the newly established Area 51.
Define the setup for the Area 51 R&D lab structure. Define a process for building a series of high-functioning teams at a rapid pace and subsequently manage those teams. Teams should be small, agile, ruthlessly results driven, data and objectives driven, and engage in radical collaboration.
Provide ongoing management of the R&D lab and staff. Staff will rotate through the lab at regular intervals (for example, every six months) and the intervals may be staggered.
Provide strategic and tactical direction across multiple programs including prioritization, organization/staffing, scheduling, and resource leveling.
Ensure smooth transitions for Area 51 fellow into the R&D lab and as they transition back into the business.
Define and refine mechanics to generate ideas and nominate employees/fellows/founders for the R&D lab.
Vet incoming ideas and interview/vet A51 team members.
Provide guidance, direction, mentoring, and nurturing to the Area 51 research and development products.
Act as an ambassador to AOL’s university partners. Look for opportunities to partner and collaborate, assist with identification of new opportunities, and ensure efforts move forward.
Recruit and retain top talent from AOL’s university partners.
Be a key member of the Area 51 R&D steering committee providing regular updates and statuses and bringing issues to the attention of the steering committee.
Assume a leadership role in the Area 51 Employee Advisory board.
Define the requirements for area51.aol.com and provide product ownership for the site, ensuring regular and timely updates of information.
Explore the possibility of an Area 51 employee app that will provide updates on Area 51, projects, meet ups, and idea submissions.
Communicate lessons learned and apply the knowledge learned to future endeavors.
Show resilience and optimism in the face of adversity and treat disappointments and failures as a learning opportunity. Area 51 is exploring new territory, which means that realistically, most Area 51 projects are going to fail even if the team does everything correctly.
Manage teams during periods of uncertainty. Since Area 51 is exploring new territory, there are likely to be major discoveries along the course of each project that change its natures, features, and scope. Teams need to be able to cope with this uncertainty, while maintaining their objectivity.
Define the goals and success metrics for Area 51 R&D and provide regular reporting on progress against goals.
Drive accountability, consistency, quality, and process standardization across all phases of research and development.
Support, plan, and execute other programs and company-wide initiatives to drive innovation and generate new ideas.
QUALIFICATIONS: KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE, SKILLS
Education: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
Experience: 8+ years directly related experience or advanced degree and 2-3 years directly related experience.
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