Research and Development Manager
What the work is
Plans, organises, directs, controls and coordinates research and development activities within an organisation.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Develops and implements research project strategies, priorities and targets to support commercial and policy developments
- Leads major research projects and coordinates activities of other research workers
- Assesses the benefits and monitors the costs and effectiveness of research and development activities
- Interprets results of research projects, and recommends associated product and service development innovations
- Provides advice on research and development options available to the organisation
- Monitors leading-edge developments in relevant disciplines and assesses implications for the organisation
- May publish results of significant research projects
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in the research and development centre of a fictional company that makes food packaging. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- After months of dead ends, a prototype finally works and the whole team gathers round
- You shield a promising idea long enough for it to prove itself
- A young researcher presents their first result and holds the room
Hard days
- Telling a team that a project they love is being stopped
- A result that cannot be repeated, right before a deadline
- Defending the research budget to people who want something sellable next quarter
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 111531, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.