Manager, R&D - Product Development

Manager, R&D - Product Development

Come grow your R&D career at KHC with this exciting opportunity to join the Process Cheese team! This R&D Manager role will manage Process Cheese categories and brands and lead a team of developers to drive our core business across North America within the Meat, Cheese, Coffee, and Snacking Business Unit. This role interfaces directly with the business and offers the ability to lead technically challenging projects and initiatives focused on productivity, growth, renovation, and brand maintenance. Success in the role requires cross-functional collaboration, strategic influence, problem solving, thoughtful career development planning for the team, and prioritization to lead multiple projects simultaneously. Successful candidate will have a technical background in food science/engineering, demonstrated strength in the commercialization process, proven ability to design product testing at plant scale, a growth mindset, and powerful teamwork skills. If you're looking to bring your leadership to a team that is technical and passionate about all things cheese, this is the place for you!

This role will be based out of the Glenview, IL Kraft Heinz Innovation Center and will require travel approximately 30% of the time.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with the business units, cross-functional teams, plants, and suppliers as the R&D category manager to manage projects and direct developers across all projects in the category
• Lead the resources and budgets for projects and initiatives within the category
• Assist in scoping and facilitating business opportunities
• Lead developers to design and implement tests, analyze data, draw conclusions, document findings, present results, and commercialize products
• Translate research findings into substantial business opportunities and communicate to cross-functional teams
• Communicate regularly with the BU R&D Leads
• Ability to direct developers across the category
• Support extended cross functional team on initiatives to ensure speed to market
• Interface with all related technical experts and internal category scientists to understand technologies and applications
• Collaborate with teams to understand and ensure product quality and food safety requirements are defined and delivered through the completion of raw material, finished product and quality specifications that deliver consistent, high-quality products
• Run technical timelines, provide clear and timely communication, complete risk assessments, raise issues, and develop contingency plans demonstrating strong project management skills
• Adopt a culture of diversity & inclusion, sustainability, learning, and working like an owner
• Elevate the competence and know-how of junior developers through training, coaching, and external networking
• Management of junior staff including creation of development plans, building teamwork, and balancing of workload to help deliver in-year and pipeline projects
• Drive engagement for respective team while partnering with peers

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree (Master’s is a plus) - Food Science, Dairy Science, Food Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Biological Engineering, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Microbiology, or related field
• 7+ years of experience in the CPG industry preferred
• Ability to lead, coach, develop, and inspire others
• Strong experience in R&D commercialization with a high degree of autonomy
• Strong learning agility and ability to think on the fly
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment, managing a complex network of stakeholders
• Understanding of ingredient interactions/functionality
• Self-motivated problem solver and critical thinker with the drive to deliver objectives in a dynamic, fast-paced environment
• Manage multiple assignments/tasks concurrently with the ability to prioritize work for self and others
• Experience across a broad range of cheese and dairy ingredients, formulations, and manufacturing processes desired but not a prerequisite
• Understanding of Design of Experiments
• Excellent verbal and written communication
• Excellent influencing skills