Senior Manager, Process Development

Cronos Group is an innovative global cannabinoid company with international production and distribution across five continents. Cronos Group is committed to building disruptive intellectual property by advancing cannabis research, technology and product development. With a passion to responsibly elevate the consumer experience, Cronos Group is building an iconic brand portfolio. Cronos Group’s portfolio includes PEACE NATURALS™, a global health and wellness platform, and our adult-use brand Spinach™.

At Cronos Group, we hire talented people who thrive on solving difficult problems and give them the opportunity to hone new skills and approaches. If you want to play a part in shaping an innovative industry and help build a historically significant company, we want to meet you.

As the Sr. Manager Process Development, you'll strategize and execute process development and product commercialization projects. Collaborating with cross-functional teams, you'll drive process development activities from concept to execution. Responsibilities include evaluating manufacturing options, scaling product development, overseeing commercialization, and implementing process optimizations. You'll also conduct capacity analyses, develop GMP and HACCP-compliant processes, and represent our company in technical discussions. We seek a proactive, experienced individual with a strong manufacturing or process engineering background, possessing analytical, problem-solving, and excellent communication skills, who thrives in a fast-paced environment. The ideal candidate is energetic, collaborative, and forward- thinking.

This position is based out of Stayner, Ontario

What you’ll be doing:

• The goal is to align these solutions with the product development strategies and the broader manufacturing strategy.
• Work in close collaboration with Engineering, Operations, and Commercialization teams; facilitating the identification of suitable equipment vendors and process flows that complement product development goals, while respecting facility limitations and operational requirements.
• Assist the engineering team in capacity analysis in line with product development formulations. This includes converting product development specifications into tangible insights for process capacity and providing critical assistance to the engineering team in their capacity analysis. This ensures optimal resource utilization and effective execution of production plans.
• Evaluate and adapt new technologies to meet product and process requirements.
• Collaborating with operations and finance on make vs buy analyses and labour/costing/capex assumptions.
• Represent the company in technical discussions with vendors, service providers and contract manufacturers. Ensuring the company's product development and product specification interests are at the forefront of all conversations.
• Lead the aspects of the business case which include evaluation of manufacturing options such as in-house production or contract manufacturing, prioritizing factors like product quality, cost, manufacturability, and supply chain needs to support the strategic vision of the product.
• Travel to and from global Cronos Group Facilities, 3rd party contract manufacturers, and other remote locations for product development purposes, technical consultations, and manufacturing scale-up, optimization and troubleshooting, as required.
• Serve as the central communication hub between different teams such as product development, engineering, commercialization, and operations.
• Collaborate closely with Product Development and Engineering teams to translate new product concepts into scalable manufacturing processes.
• Support the engineering team in carrying out machine capability analysis and FMEA. Help to evaluate each machine's ability to deliver accurate, consistent, and reliable performance, and identify potential process or equipment failures.
• Actively seek and implement process optimization, leveraging feedback from various teams and operational data.
• Develop initial and continually optimize process flows, assisting operations with defining labour, time, and process loss estimates.
• Collaborate with Engineering and Product Development teams to create Routings and comprehensive BOMs as well as liaise with Finance and Systems teams for their accuracy and functionality of BOMs and Routing within the Enterprise resource planning systems.
• Assist with authorship of batch records and training records for new processes and continuous optimization and improvement of existing batch records and training records.
• Design and implement standard scale-up process templates and tools that can be utilized across different projects, ensuring repeatable success and efficiency in scaling operations.
• Develop new processes with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) principles, assisting Quality and Regulatory teams with development of preventative control plans and process compliance to industry standards and regulations
• Facilitate effective communication and alignment of objectives, ensuring the seamless integration of product integrity requirements.
• Lead in-depth research to identify potential equipment and processing solutions, focusing on their suitability from the early prototyping phase and beyond.
• Drive the scale-up activity for product development, turning technical product specifications and manufacturing specifications into implementable action plans. This includes the development and scaling up of new processes, as well as optimization of existing ones.
• Continuously strive for product quality improvement and efficiency enhancement.

Your Environment:

• Frequent time spent in production & laboratory environments (standing, bending, crouching)
• Fast-paced environment
• Able to work in varying temperatures
• Overtime as required
• Able to lift up to 40 lbs.

You’ll need to have:

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or other related technical field.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with proven ability to work cross-functionally with teams like Product Development, Engineering, Commercialization, and Operations.
• Proven experience in product development and scaling manufacturing processes into commercialized product lines.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Open to travel for vendor meetings, equipment inspections, or related activities.
• Experience in technical negotiations and representing company interests with external parties such as vendors or contract manufacturers.
• Proficiency in relevant software, such as CAD, CAM, or specific manufacturing-related software.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously.
• 6-8 years of experience in manufacturing or process engineering, preferably in consumer-packaged goods industry (experience working within the cannabis industry is an asset).
• Strong knowledge of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). Experience with Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and machine capability analysis.

We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment, and we welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities and people with diverse backgrounds, identities, and cultures. For candidates with disabilities, accommodations are available upon request in all phases of the selection process.