Principal Sensory & Product Experience

JOB SUMMARY:

Our team members are challenged to make a genuine impact and play an integral role in driving the business forward. We embrace a dynamic culture that always puts the consumer first, and where ownership, accountability and agility are celebrated at every level. To help our people thrive, we offer expansive career growth potential, the opportunity to work alongside and learn from talented colleagues with diverse backgrounds and skill sets, and a range of best-in-class benefits.

The Sensory and Product Experience Principal drives high-level consumer and sensory expertise to research, technology and process-related programs, builds and continuously improves functional capabilities, and ensures cross-functional execution of global consumer centric initiatives. Our Principal establishes consumer and sensory mastership by being at the forefront in driving consumer knowledge building initiatives, giving expert recommendations that lead to informed decisions across our global organization, and ensuring a competitive advantage/sensory superiority/differentiated innovation in existing and new categories, in alignment with R&D and business strategies.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Consumer Centricity: drive consumer centricity throughout the innovation & renovation process to optimize every consumer experience by being an advocate for our consumers by embedding a consumer centric mindset in everything you do.
• Foundational Knowledge: serve as a trusted advisor and recognized consumer and sensory expert
  
  

to lead complex, strategic projects in a global context that have broad-based implications across R&D, the business and across categories. Cultivate foundational knowledge to accelerate and deepen understanding of ingredients, processes, products, packaging and consumers. Add value through execution excellence, and collaboration through influence, and mutual understanding while leading projects to successful resolution.

• Innovation / Renovation Mastership: utilize mastership of foundational and advanced design of experiment techniques and their application to escalate Innovation and Renovation impact, efficiency & agility. Utilize advanced market research approaches as decision tools to enhance innovation / renovation products that are differentiated in the marketplace. Execute consumer and sensory programs that closes the knowledge gap of our opportunities, challenges, markets, consumers, products, and processes.
• Collaboration and Knowledge Leadership: advance vendor program relationships cultivated on trust and transparency. Ensure innovative approaches, thought leadership, advanced methodological expertise, strategic mindset and strong business acumen are the foundation of all vendor partnerships. Promote consumer understanding across the organization. Maximize collaboration between sensory, consumer, R&D, and business partners.
• Technical Expertise: build and enhance functional capabilities and ensure cross-functional execution of global consumer centric sensory programs. Lead the implementation of these programs across all manufacturing sites, local and global.
• Value Delivery: ensure mastership and full utilization of internal sensory discrimination and descriptive analysis panels. Develop and advance validation procedures and develop panel performance KPI’s to ensure the highest level of integrity and results are obtained through their use.
• Continuous Improvement Mindset: drive out-of-the-box thinking and new method development adoption within and across all sensory function that support Nestle Health Science. Model continuous improvement, technical knowledge sharing and functional expertise throughout the organization.
• Operational Excellence: responsible for and establishing sensory specifications that drive quality and manufacturing excellence. Follow Food Safety, Food Quality, Occupational Safety, Health and Environment policies and procedures as pertaining to this role.
  
  

JOB QUALIFICATIONS (Education, Experience and Knowledge):

• University graduate with a MS or PhD in food science, sensory evaluation, sensory science, psychology, consumer science, marketing research, nutrition, or statistics required.
• 10 years of experience with master’s level degree and years of experience within sensory and/or consumer testing, in a consumer-packaged goods or related business or a Ph.D. from an accredited sensory and/or market research learning institution with 7 years of experience.
• Expert knowledge in a broad variety of consumer, sensory, and market research techniques applied across the value chain- from early ideation to post launch assessment, in business and R&D contexts, Knowledge of and research experience in sensory perception. More specifically:
• Discrimination testing
• Descriptive analysis (including temporal methods)
• Consumer methods (qualitative and quantitative)
• Methods development
• Statistics (Univariate, Multivariate, etc.)
• Design of Experiment
• Panel recruitment and maintenance
• Panelists validation, training and motivation
• External agency management
• Application of sensory techniques in quality, QA and compliance
• Strong written and oral communication skills with an emphasis on effective visual storytelling
• Strong organizational skills
• Able to work well in a team environment
• Independently motivated
• Good interpersonal/teamwork skills and a sense of business/technical interrelationships
  
  

SUPERVISION RECEIVED:

A proactive, independent person, able to lead/manage/complete projects with minimal supervision. Creative and innovative with a sense of urgency and passion. There will be at least two formal meetings with the Manager to evaluate the progress toward the goals. There is also the opportunity to work closely with other members of the team for guidance. There will be formal training sessions set up for all newcomers to Nestlé as well as specific courses required as an R&D employee. The Manager will set up a training plan, and it is the responsibility of the individual to execute the plan.

STRATEGIC IMPACT:

This position is in support the R&D Nestlé Global environment and deliver services to various operating companies.

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