Director Global Succession and Leadership

Overview

We are seeking a strategic and experienced Director of Succession Planning & Leadership Development to lead our global talent review and succession strategy, with a focus on identifying and developing enterprise leaders and successors for key roles. In this critical role, you will own the processes, tools, and programs that build a strong and diverse leadership pipeline to support our company’s growth.  This role partners with HR Business Partners, Talent Acquisition, DEI, and Business Leaders to assess and accelerate talent across the globe, while also designing and managing enterprise-level leadership development solutions, including coaching, assessment, and high-potential programs.

This is a hybrid role – 3 days per week on site (Tuesday – Thursday) based out of our Milford, MA HQ

Responsibilities

Global Talent Review & Succession

• Lead the global talent review and succession planning strategy, processes, and cadence in partnership with HRBPs
• Manage enterprise-wide talent review cycles, tools, and resources to ensure consistency and business impact
• Facilitate calibration of talent for enterprise and key roles across functions and regions
• Provide talent insights and readiness metrics to senior leaders and HR

Enterprise Talent Ownership

• Own and maintain succession pipelines for enterprise talent and key roles
• Partner with HRBPs during functional talent reviews for awareness of emerging talent
• Regularly engage and collaborate with leaders and enterprise talent for visibility into progress and readiness for rotation
• Ensure clear visibility and mobility for high-potential and future-ready leaders across the organization
• Create development strategies for identified successors, including executive coaching and assessments
• Lead the creation of all executive level materials and talent insights for the annual enterprise talent update for the Board of Directors

Leadership & Executive Development

• Design and oversee enterprise-wide development programs for high potential and successors at senior levels
• Manage relationships with external vendors, coaches, and assessment providers
• Partner with DEI to ensure inclusive development practices and with Talent Acquisition on talent pipeline continuity

Talent Intelligence & Insights

• Track and report on succession health, bench strength, promotion readiness, and program effectiveness
• Deliver dashboards and insights to executive leaders and the HRLT
• Translate talent data into actionable recommendations

Qualifications

We’d love to hear from you if you have:

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field; Master Degree preferred
• 10 years of progressive experience in Talent Management, Organizational Development, or related fields
• Experience leading global succession planning and talent review processes with demonstrated outcomes
• Strong facilitation skills and executive presence; comfortable engaging senior leaders
• Certified coach with experience coaching senior-level talent
• Experience with leadership assessments (e.g., Hogan, Korn Ferry, LVI, or similar)
• Background in Life Sciences or a complex, global, matrixed environment preferred
• Strong data fluency and experience with talent dashboards and talent tech systems
• Collaborative and influential

Company Description

Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT), the world's leading specialty measurement company, has pioneered chromatography, mass spectrometry and thermal analysis innovations serving the life, materials, and food sciences for over 60 years. With approximately 8,000 employees worldwide, Waters operates directly in 35 countries, including 15 manufacturing facilities, with products available in more than 100 countries. Our team focuses on creating business advantages for laboratory-dependent organizations to enable significant advancement in healthcare delivery, environmental management, food safety, and water quality.   

Working at Waters enables our employees to unlock the potential of their careers. Our global team is driven by purpose. We strive to be better, learn and improve every day in everything we do. We’re the problem solvers and innovators that aren’t afraid to take risks to transform the world of human health and well-being. We’re all in it together delivering benefit as one to provide the insights needed today in order to solve the challenges of tomorrow. 

Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to our core values at Waters Corporation. It is our responsibility to actively implement programs and practices to drive inclusive behavior and increase diversity across the organization. We are united by diversity and thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products, our customers and our community. Waters is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or protected Veteran status.