Product Development Manager

Essential Job Functions and Responsibilities

• Provide on-going coaching, training, development, and daily direction for R&D resources.
• Provide guidance to lab personnel and scientists on technical formulation requirements, specification development, data collection, and procedures.
• Help to supply and create an environment that supports a high-performing team.
• Guide teams to develop a keen sense of technical rigor with product implementation from conception through commercialization.
• Align resources and ensure prioritization within product development team to support the business strategy and financial goals.
• Facilitates staff’s understanding of the business case for project assignments, new products/concepts, and strategy.
• Advanced working knowledge of an R&D organization, including product development flow and project management from conception to product launch.
• Function as conduit between Product Development and cross-functional teams to facilitate problem solving and remove roadblocks.
• Effectively develop and manage technical timelines, provide clear communication, raise issues and risks, and develop contingency plans.
• Acts as a consultant on problems within product design, quality, and processing to make authoritative technical recommendations during project stage-gate process.
• Examine, Study, and Investigate i ndustry trends and processes to identify opportunities in multiple product categories such as meal solutions, health and wellness, and food service.
• Identify internal opportunities by challenging formulation, manufacturing, and organizational process assumptions. Collaborate with other teams to implement changes/improvements.
• Provide transparency to organization of current project status and implementation.
• Work closely with Account Managers and Business Development to provide product information and technical support to customers.
• Leverage vendor capabilities, where appropriate, to expand formulation possibilities, research new ingredients, product technologies and/or increase speed to market. Collaborate with vendors to research new ingredients, product technologies, and/or processes to develop unique and innovative products.
• Fosters environment of collaboration within site Product Development team as well as the full R&D organization.