R&D Manager

Benefits, upon satisfaction of applicable eligibility requirements, include but are not limited to medical, dental, vision, Employer paid life insurance, STD/LTD, vacation/sick days/parental leave, 401(k), employee stock purchase plan, and pension.

We're looking for a Manager for our R & D Team. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in formulation, application and development of new dairy and bakery blends. We need someone to lead the team as well as collaborate with them. This is a great opportunity to work with an amazing group of people. We offer a competitive salary, outstanding benefits and a fun team environment.

R & D MANAGER

General Description:

The R & D Manager role will take the lead in developing new dairy and bakery blends. They will manage these products from concept approval, formulation, product development, and plant trials. They will be responsible for the launch and post-launch review of new products, collaborating with marketing, sales, project management, QA, and production. This individual will coach, lead, and mentor team members, contributing to the growth and development of their understanding of dairy and bakery applications and ingredient functionality. The R & D Manager will also be a key resource for the Director of Applications, serving as a dairy/bakery/ingredient expert for the applications team. Another part of this role is to provide technical service for Profile Ingredients blends (Mantrose Group) texture systems and ingredients. This will include traveling to attend customer visits and plant trials. The individual filling this position should have good communication skills and be an active advocate for Profile Food’s products and services. The team leader must also be able to manage multiple development projects and priorities at one time.

Requirements

• 4-year bachelor’s degree, minimum. M.S. Degree preferred in food science.
• Minimum five to seven (5-7) years of food applications experience.
• Must have been in a leadership / management role a minimum of three (3) years.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to effectively communicate with internal and external customers.
• Excellent computer proficiency: MS Office, Work, Excel, Power Point, Outlook.
• Must be able to multi-task to meet deadlines.
• Ability to work independently and carry out assignments to completion within parameters of instructions given, prescribed routines, and standard accepted practices.
• Must have knowledge of SQF, CMP’s, Kosher, Sanitation, Allergen, Organic practices.
• The R & D Manager should have a good understanding of other ingredients that may be used to affect the texture and shelf-life of food systems, such as starches, hydrocolloids, and sweeteners.

What you will do:

• Formulate new and existing dairy, and plant-based alternatives, to meet the objectives for sensory, nutritional attributes, quality, cost, timeline, and manufacturability.
• Design and conduct experiments to evaluate the impact of formulation, process and/or changes on finished product quality.
• Coordinate and supervise full-scale production testing to validate new and revised formulations, production parameters and packaging processes.
• Coach and assist in the training and development of other team members.
• Work in multidisciplinary teams to accomplish goals.
• Work with customers to solve problems and recommend or develop new blends which meet customer needs.
• Make comparisons between the company products lines and competitive products identifying area of business potential.
• Evaluate results of tests conducted and approve those that meet all batch acceptance-testing specification.
• Developing and completing R&D projects as defined by the Director of R&D.
• Participate in marketing activities such as focus groups, new idea generation, and researching market trends as they pertain to strategic business plan and new products.
• Responsible for supporting the successful commercialization of new products.
• Work closely with production, marketing, and QA in monitoring the performance of new products during post-launch activities in the New Product Process; may include troubleshooting, ingredient recommendations and customer site visits.
• Participate in and/or lead product improvement initiatives to improve the quality of existing products in response to customer feedback, to improve nutritional value, color, flavor, texture, and convenience, or to improve cost efficiencies.
• Set and write product specifications for product information sheets.
• Must be able to travel up to 33% for customer visits and trade shows.

Job Type: Full-time

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Employee discount
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Referral program
• Retirement plan
• Tuition reimbursement
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Day shift
• Monday to Friday

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Elgin, IL 60123: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Required)

Experience:

• Project management: 1 year (Preferred)
• FDA regulations: 1 year (Preferred)
• Bakery and Dairy formulation, application and development: 1 year (Preferred)

Work Location: One location