Flavor Program Manager at Ferrara Pan Candy Co., Inc. in Chicago, Illinois

Job Description:

Job Location: Chicago





Want to make an impact?



The Flavor Program Manager will have the opportunity to substantially impact Ferrara's innovation portfolio by leading and executing the flavor development strategy.


Ferrara is on a tremendous growth trajectory and this is a critical time of transformation. This role offers the opportunity to drive implementation of the flavor strategy across product recipes to fuel innovation success. This includes driving execution of a flavor development strategy across the innovation portfolio, technical direction for flavor development within Ferrara & with external partners and alignment across the cross-functional organization for a flavor innovation strategy.


This position reports to the Sr. Director - Breakthrough Innovation and will be located in Chicago at our headquarters in the Old Post Office.


Availability to travel 10% of time and higher when required. The candidate must be willing to work flexible hours on occasion and travel as necessary to internal and external facilities to support manufacturing line trials.




Ways you will make a difference

• Leads activation of flavor strategy across the organization into our innovation portfolio
• Creates and drives adherence across the organization for flavor strategy by brand and product category
• Establish standards for flavor development excellence and ensures adherence to process for all key Innovations projects in collaboration with product development
• Builds technical capabilities and expertise in flavor development to better enable R&D organization for innovation product development
• Drives collaboration externally with supplier and technology partners to identify emerging flavors & technologies and unlock added value
• Influence cross-functional organization, including marketing, procurement, consumer insights and R&D, to align to vision of flavor strategy and enable enterprise strategic implementation

Skills that will make you successful

• Expertise in flavor application as part of product development, preferably in candy confections
• Technology understanding in flavor technology and flavor development in consumer packaged foods (ideally candy confections) and ability to direct technical flavor development strategy
• Experience in technical strategic implementation across cross-functional enterprise, including establishing plan, building support across the organization, and ensuring adherence and delivery of results
• Very strong interpersonal skills with ability to influence with integrity through persuasive communication to win support at more senior levels within R&D, Sensory Science, Procurement, Consumer Insights, Marketing and to build effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Good technical, analytical, and communication skills; ability to interpret data and distil into useful and actionable information.
• Self-starter, self-motivating: able to balance competing priorities without losing momentum and manage uncertainty and complexity in fast evolving CPG environments.
• Ability to create and use networks to actively seek and take advantage of ideas, best practices, and solutions.

Experiences that will support your success

• B.S. in Food Process Engineering, Agricultural & Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Food Science, or related field. M.S., P.E. or PhD preferred
• Minimum of 5 years of experience, 7 years preferred, in a CPG R&D or Manufacturing Role, specifically with experience in flavor development and/or flavor applications, confectionary experience a plus
• Expertise in flavor technology, flavor development and/or flavor applications

What We Offer



At Ferrara, we're proud to support our employees with comprehensive benefits that enhance health, financial wellness, and include paid time off (PTO). Eligible employees may also receive an annual bonus based on company performance. Learn more about our benefits @ https://flimp.live/Ferrara-Benefits-Resource-Center




Compensation



The salary range for this position is $99,600 to $139,500 annually. Apply Now