R&D Category Manager

Griffith Foods is the caring, creative product development partner helping food companies meet the evolving needs of consumers while sustaining the planet. As a family business founded in 1919 and headquartered in Alsip, Illinois USA, Griffith Foods is known for true, collaborative innovation guided by their Purpose of "We Blend Care and Creativity to Nourish the World". The company's product capabilities range from seasonings and marinades to coating systems and sauces that are better for people and better for the planet. For more information, visit www.griffithfoods.com.

Purpose of the Position

Develops, leads and executes R&D activities across product categories. Building a robust technical product pipeline, through consumer centric innovation and product renovation which unleashes the growth and value of the assigned product categories in support of our Aspirations and Long-Range Plan.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

• Regional technical leader for the assigned product categories.
• Key contributor to the development of the Regional assigned product categories strategy.
• Technical lead for Value Engineering projects across the assigned product categories
• Builds clear program of work for functional ingredient development and research
• Responsible to achieve Fiscal and Long Range Plan financial and impact metric targets for the assigned product categories.
• Leadership of the R&D category team
• Works with Global and Regional Product Category Managers to identify, manage and commercialize all the assigned product categories led Regional innovation projects. Champions Innovation Process Management (IPM) for all Regional the assigned product categories innovation projects.
• Participates and/or leads Regional the assigned product categories related technical taskforces in conjunction with the Global Innovation Council (GIC), Global R&D, Marketing, Culinary and Business Development.
• Identifies in conjunction with other cross-functional teams promising areas of research and technology addressing unmet needs.
• Is the internal and external the assigned product categories product category thought leader to help enable our product leadership positioning.
• Integrates tools and approaches that drive technology initiatives and Griffith Foods digital transformation.
• Identifies and develops technical partnerships with key ecosystem partners. Represents Griffith Foods in professional business relationships with customers, suppliers, academia, government and specific food industry groups.
• Applies scientific and engineering principles in research, development, production technology, processing improvements for the Regional the assigned product categories.
• Responsible for leading regional knowledge management/ transfer across the the assigned product categories.
• Continuously evaluate the innovation process for ways to improve efficiencies, effectiveness and commercialization of innovations.
• Works with independence, exercising ingenuity and judgment in the approach to and accomplishment of key innovation tasks.
• Responsible for workflow planning, experimental design, and execution of projects of considerable complexity, including identifying, securing and managing necessary resources; people, financial and timing.
• Manages multiple priorities and timelines. Uses strong technical, problem solving and leadership skills to approach complex projects.
• Communicates internally with all necessary functions to exchange technical information and project timelines.
• Responsible for maintaining and enhancing the security of all information regarding product formulas, processing and related company intellectual property.

• BS in Food Science, Food Technology, Food Chemistry, Chemistry or a related science.
• Must have strong Seasoning, AP or S&D processing (depending on category), food safety and formula design experience.
• Minimum of 8 years of technical / scientific development experience in the product category and/or support within the food industry.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively with other cross functional departments in a result-driven and team-oriented environment.
• Experience in developing and collaborating with external partners and ecosystems is an asset.
• Excellent organizational skills and accuracy and attention to detail.
• Strong time management skills and the ability to prioritize and multitask efficiently.
• Proficiency in computer applications
• Fluent in English