Talento has partnered with a Pet Food company seeking a Product Development Manager. The Product Development Manager is responsible for supporting new product development and will lead product formulation-related areas including recipe development, ingredient research, investigation, validation, bench-top and pilot trails, and scale up and commissioning runs, product and process performance, and functions as the champion between product development and other functional groups. This individual will report to the Senior Manager of Product Development and will manage a team of 4 employees
Responsibilities
Creates development plans based on concepts shared by the business.
Communicates and manages the timeline developed by the Project Management team to ensure on time and on budget execution.
Communicates updates/milestones to senior leadership.
Provides leadership for all aspects of development (new ingredient investigation, product evaluation, processing performance, and all other checks through all phases of the development process.)
Provides real-time technical support to all internal and external (global) partners.
Supports Product Change Request (product, process, operation, Ingredient, etc.) and contributes to project planning, timeline development, risk assessment and execution.
Integrates technical strengths with creativity in new product development and process design.
Actively lead/participate in strategic innovation session and lead new technology exploration & feasibility.
Requirements
A bachelor's degree in food science or food engineering, meat science, process engineering or a related discipline
A minimum of 5-7 years of relevant recent experience in pet food and a focus on project management and experience managing people.
Experience with taking projects from idea generation to bench-top trials, to scale up and commercialization. Can articulate the new product development process.
An understanding of food manufacturing processes and the sequence of events necessary to convert raw materials to finished products.
Strong communication and influencing skills, specifically with the ability to distill complex activities to keep non-technical audiences well-informed and aligned on best course of actions.
Strong leadership skills with a high degree of emotional intelligence, experienced in leading a high-performance team preferred.
Strong business acumen and comfortable working with ambiguity; good sense of urgency and excellent at time/activity management & prioritization.
Adaptable, approachable, and experienced in coaching & mentoring.
Able to work in both office and plant environments with exposure to noise, equipment, and machinery.
About Talento Human Capital (TalentoHC):
TalentoHC is a leading talent acquisition, executive search, and human capital consulting partner, dedicated to helping our clients build their best teams yet. Our success is driven by our unwavering commitment to fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce, embracing individuals from various backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. Talento Human Capital is an equal opportunity employer.