Product Development (R&D) Manager - Food

Position: Product Development Manager Reports to: Vice President, Product Development

We are looking for a Product Development Manager to join our team! As our PD Manager you will drive product & process innovation for the Carbonaut brand and have a major impact on growing the business through unique products & processes

Opportunity

In this role, you will apply your technical knowledge, curiosity, and highly developed product development skills to lead product development efforts for the company. You will also apply your management skills to effectively manage people and projects. You channel your passion for innovation & continuous improvement with your ability to be agile, achieve deadlines and effectively manage constraints in a fast-paced & adapting environment. You will lead Product Development initiatives alongside with the VP, Product Development while coordinating efforts with Project Management, Procurement, Operations, Sales and Marketing and external manufacturing teams to launch products that will spearhead the brand. You will work with emerging ingredients & adapting proceses projects and apply your creativity and resourcefulness to achieve unique solutions. Being at the forefront of ingredient technology & new product development, you will have many opportunities to influence change, learn, grow, and develop with the company!

Here is who you are…

Drive & motivation

• You love solving challenges & are excited to build innovative solutions, drive execution & and achieve results
• You are health-conscious and understand the value of healthy eating and organic food
• You are passionate about Innovation in food and want to work with a team that thrives on change, uncertainty and creative solutions as we expand the low-carb universe
• You have a curious mind and seek to understand problems & are driven to continuously improve yourself

PERSONALITY & Abilities

• You are a strategic thinker, exceptionally organized, detail oriented
• You are an explorer who thrives on building unique & cutting edge food science and technology solutions
• You are a clear and persuasive communicator, a relationship builder who works well with different personalities
• You are tenacious, adaptable, resourceful, results-oriented and a team player
• You are able to coach and develop technologists to strengthen our capabilities & help the team grow
• You are able to critically think, execute and thrive under tight/short deadlines and constraints.

Knowledge & skills

• You understand food microbiology principles, typical spoilage organisms, and control strategies
• You have advanced knowledge of R&D and commercialization process and revel in bringing products to market
• You have excellet computer skills including MS Office Suite & Genesis Nutritional Software
• You are an expert formulator and know how to modify them for desired results
• You have expert knowledge of the structure and chemistry of food and food production processes
• You have an aptitude for solving technical challenges through systematic research and investigation
• You have proven skills in scientific research and analysis
• You have an advanced understanding of the Food Technology & Processing and key scientific principles associated with food systems, ingredient and ingredient/process interactions

Experience

• You have expert experience managing complex and strategic projects
• You have advanced working experience in food production plants and commercialization
• 3 years + experience in leading scientists/technologists in R&D environment
• 7 years + of R&D/Product Development experience in a food production facility
• You have a Bachelors or Masters Degree in Food Science, Food Technology or related discipline

Nice-to-Have

• Experience in project management
• Experience in Bakery systems & processing
• R&D Experience in formulating with plant proteins, fibres, starches, gluten-free, extrusion processes, frozen dough systems

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Detailed Description of Duties:

• Lead & execute production trials to drive commercialization of new products & processes and continuous improvement of existing products, cost reduction initiatives with our manufacturing partners
• Lead identification, evaluation & approval of new & improved ingredients for the best product quality/performance, cost optimization and sourcing stability.
• Lead innovation and commercialize new products/technology/processes from concept to launch, to meet business objectives, cost, quality & and manufacturability.
• Troubleshoot technical and production challenges using combination of research (Applied R&D), experiementation, data collection, analysis and critical thought. Keep meticulous records.
• Maintain detailed, comprehensive records of company’s IP- formulations, process parameters, finished product specifications to facilitate efficient knowledge & information transfer
• Partner seamlessly with various cross functional teams on Commercialization, Product Development, Quality, technology transfer, and other areas
• Lead & develop a small team of technologists, motivate & drive innovation to meet team metrics and objectives driven by goals. Suggest training tools to enchance employee performance & skill development
• Keep abreast of emerging markets trends and technology advancement, new ingredients and product design.
• Other duties as assigned

• May on occasion work evenings and weekends to accommodate production testing