What you'll doLead product innovation- Lead new product development projects from concept and formulation through commercialization.
- Develop prototypes across multiple product categories and present concepts to Marketing, leadership and other stakeholders.
- Design and execute product development experiments, interpret results and recommend next steps.
- Stay current on emerging food technologies, ingredients, processing methods and industry trends.
- Improve existing products through ingredient, nutritional, cost and product-quality optimization.
Take products from bench to production- Translate bench-top concepts into commercially viable products and manufacturing processes.
- Lead plant trials, scale-ups and new product start-ups with company manufacturing sites and co-manufacturing partners.
- Establish processing parameters and work with Plant Operations to optimize production runs.
- Lead pre- and post-production reviews for new product launches.
- Travel to Nature's Path manufacturing facilities and external partners for trials, scale-up and product support, up to 25%.
Build the technical foundation- Develop formulations, product specifications, ingredient specifications, processing parameters and label declarations.
- Manage nutritional information and nutritional database entries for new and revised products.
- Coordinate third-party laboratory testing and partner with Quality on shelf-life testing and deviations.
- Maintain accurate product-development documentation and company systems.
- Apply working knowledge of food regulations, including USDA Organic requirements and California Proposition 65, while building knowledge of requirements in other global markets.
Partner across the business- Serve as an R&D subject matter expert throughout the product-development process.
- Partner with Finance and Supply Chain to develop product P&Ls and assess commercial feasibility.
- Work with Supply Chain to evaluate alternative ingredients and suppliers while protecting quality and product performance.
- Create product samples for Sales, Marketing and leadership as required.
- Balance multiple development projects and commercialization timelines.
What you bring- Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Culinary Science or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant food-industry experience.
- 4+ years of new product development experience, including taking products from idea through commercialization.
- Experience formulating better-for-you products, including USDA Organic products.
- Hands-on experience with food manufacturing and scale-up.
- Experience with cereal extrusion, baking and/or snack manufacturing is preferred.
- Experience working within a stage-gate product-development process is an asset.
- Experience with a nutritional database is required.
- Familiarity with PLM systems, supply chain software, Microsoft Office and/or Asana is helpful.
- Experience within a large CPG organization, high-growth food company or start-up environment is an asset.
Why this roleYou'll have the opportunity to influence products from the earliest idea through the moment they reach full-scale production, while helping shape how we innovate in a brand-new R&D environment built for what comes next.
Oak Brook, Illinois | Monday-Thursday onsite & Friday remote
$90,000-$100,000 base salary + 10% annual bonus
