Research and Development Manager (Bakery)Dessert Holdings is looking for a
Research & Development Manager in
London, Ontario. This individual will ensure new items are built and launched successfully, existing items are documented accurately and act as a liaison between Production, Sales, Finance, Quality Assurance, and Supply Chain. The R&D Manager will design and execute tests, analyze data, draw conclusions, communicate results, and commercialize products. As the onsite R&D lead, this Manager will drive technical projects to meet business initiatives focusing on new product development, quality and cost improvement.
Key Responsibilities- Provide project leadership in the development and commercialization of new products, product improvement, and cost savings.
- Work on multiple interdisciplinary projects, developing and implementing plans, identifying and organizing project team, coordinating resources to achieve goals, and leading all communication within the organization.
- Train and mentor R&D team in project planning and execution while overseeing projects. Establish goals, appraise performance, recommend training, and provide input into final review for all direct reports.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams on implementing new products, new equipment, or new processes.
- Design and execute experiments, analyze, and interpret data to make sound technical recommendations for specific projects.
- Provide and communicate technical and business risk assessment and perspective.
- Develop process specifications, ensuring training and transfer of specification knowledge to QA and Operations.
- Support Operations and QA to resolve ingredient, formula, process issues and manage product/process changes.
- Provide formula and process specifications and on-floor support to ensure smooth rollouts of new products, equipment and/or processes.
- Support process design and review on new capability expansion, cost enhancement, and process improvement opportunities.
Qualifications:- Degree in Food Science / Food Engineering with a strong functional Baking Science background
- At least 5 years of experience with bakery/food development/food manufacturing; Culinary degree or work experience is a plus
- At least 3 years in a supervisory or managerial capacity
- Experience with leading new products through concept, prototyping and commercialization within a manufacturing environment.
- Recipe / Formulation and raw material knowledge / experience.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Working knowledge of MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel), SharePoint, ERP systems
- Strong bench work skills with the ability to execute solutions rapidly
- Working knowledge of Canadian and US food standards and regulations
- Ability/willingness to work off hours or extended amounts of time during floor testing
- Ability/willingness to travel up to 30% of the time.
