Senior R&D Manager - Dairy and Plant-Based USA - Flora Food Group
New Century, KS
About the Job
About Flora Food Group
We offer consumers a compelling choice in four growing categories: butters and spreads, creams, liquids and cheeses. We hold leadership positions in many of the 100 countries we operate in, with iconic brands including Flora, Becel+ProActiv, Blue Band, Country Crock, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, Rama, and Violife, together with our local brands and Professional business.
Global branded food champion Flora Food Group, offers the next generation of delicious, natural, nutritious food. Our products are more affordable and more sustainable than their dairy equivalents.
About the Role
We are strengthening our R&D footprint for the Flora FG in Kansas. For this we are looking for a strong talent who is able to establish the R&D team of the future. The role will start as a project leader role for setting up local pilot plant and R&D capabilities for supporting commissioning of our Hugoton factory, and will evolve into a team & site leader role for all R&D staff on the ground in Kansas in the course of 2025.
Job Summary: We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Team Leader for our Research & Development department. The ideal candidate will lead a team of technologists and technical project leaders for developing and implementing innovative products and solutions, incl optimization of the current portfolio. You will be responsible for managing projects while fostering a collaborative and creative team environment.
Key objectives & responsibilities of this role are R&D Leadership for new project at Flora Food Group opening new factory and entering new categories in the USA.
- Leading the R&D technical deliverables of the project in a cross functional team
- Recruitment of R&D incumbents
- R&D representative in the project team
- Enabling decisions for the RDLT, and driving alignment across the function
- Creation of destination vision for team setup in close partnership with global RDLT
- Pilot Plant Design for New Century
- Propose and implement systems & tools for product performance measurements, analytics, data capturing
- Leadership: Inspire and manage a diverse team of researchers and engineers, providing guidance and mentorship.
- Project Management: Oversee R&D projects, ensuring they are completed on time and within budget. Develop project plans, timelines, and deliverables.
- Collaboration: Work closely with cross-functional teams, including product management, marketing, and manufacturing, to ensure successful product launches.
- Innovation: Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices to foster a culture of innovation within the team.
- Reporting: Prepare and present reports on project progress, challenges, and outcomes to senior management and stakeholders.
- Establishing a thriving and impactful R&D community in Kansas
- Implementation of all R&D elements of all reno / inno / productivity projects in NC and Hugo
Minimum Requirements:
- 10+ years of relevant industry experience in FMCG Dairy.
- Solid understanding of dairy product categories and oils, fats and spreads
- Deep skills in Product Development, processing, and preferrably packaging
- Detail orientation and project mgmt skills combined with an ability to prioritize work
- Ability to contribute effectively in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.
- Strong project management skills, with experience in Agile methodologies a plus.
- Must be a self-motivator and enjoy solving problems.
- Clear and effective communicator; excellent written and verbal skills.
- You'll have to enjoy working in a fast-paced environment and it will take hard work and determination; we will give you the ownership you need to make an impact.
You'll have to deliver on the commitments you make. And we'll give you the freedom and flexibility to do your job and build your own career.
What's next
If this position sounds interesting, please hit the apply button now!
We understand your resume might not be up to date and recommend that you apply with what you have or your LinkedIn Profile. Flora Food Group is dedicated to building an inclusive and diverse workplace, we understand that you might not meet all the requirements stated in the description, but we encourage you to apply anyway. You might be the right candidate for this role or other roles.
Flora Food Group is an employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and equal opportunities for all. We recruit based only on values, qualifications, performance, skills, behaviours, experience, and knowledge. We ensure job advertisements are free from unintentional bias.
No personal characteristics should be a barrier to joining Flora Food Group. We prohibit discrimination and harassment based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or other personal characteristics.
