R&D Manager - Product Development

R&D Manager - Product Development

Location: Open in Europe

Full-time

Job Purpose and Dimensions

• Lead the Dairy Product Development team and own the dairy segment product and project portfolio. Partner with Sales to deliver innovative, market‑ready solutions; drive cost‑out through raw material optimization, value engineering, and simplification; and ensure business continuity by qualifying alternatives and adapting to regulatory and compliance requirements.
• Ensure efficient resource allocation and project execution aligned to business objectives, balancing short‑, medium‑ and long‑term priorities.
• Manage internal and external partners, with a strong focus on customer needs.
• Business partner to the Meat & Dairy BU, leading dairy product development across yoghurt, desserts, processed cheese, soft cheese, and dairy specialties.
• Part of the Global Protein Growth category.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Specification and Product Development Portfolio
  • Own the project portfolio, contributing to profitable growth through innovation and sustainability, simplification, compliance and cost‑out initiatives aligned to the business strategy.
  • Lead the execution of the approved R&D pipeline through the Stage‑Gate process, delivering to committed timelines and enabling strong cross‑functional teamwork across multiple functions and sites.
  • Prioritise and allocate resources based on project complexity, value and strategic importance.
  • Collaborate with cross‑functional teams to ensure successful delivery of key business initiatives.
  • Actively contribute to global Protein technical portfolio leverage.
  • Provide technical support for existing products.
  • Lead the deployment of Global and BG R&D programmes, KPIs, processes and tools.
• Team and Culture
  • Lead, coach and develop a high‑performing team.
  • Cultivate a collaborative, innovative culture and ensure effective communication across regions, business units, functions and markets.
  • Champion safety and customer focus.
  • Drive process management and compliance.
• Intellectual Property Management
  • Manage IP strategy and confidentiality agreements.
  • Oversee the patent‑filing process in coordination with Legal.
  • Protect company innovations from competitive threats.

Key Challenges

• Translate diverse customer needs into commercially viable packaging solutions, and respectfully decline requests that are not viable.
• Build and lead cross‑customer project teams to deliver high‑impact results (end‑to‑end processes, raw‑material simplification, BCP and portfolio management) across diverse regions and cultures.
• Balance short‑term and long‑term priorities through effective resource allocation and a strong drive for results.

Qualifications / Requirements

• Good scientific background, preferably Master’s Degree in chemistry, engineering, material science or equivalent.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in people leadership within product development environment, preferably in a matrixed B2B.
• Project management experience in matrix organisation.
• Experience in innovation and competitiveness portfolio management, with strong data analytics understanding.
• Proven customer engagement and stakeholder management.
• Willingness to travel around 30% of time (primarily in Europe).

Specific Skills and Abilities

• Strong project and resource management skills.
• Ability to coach and mentor.
• Excellent interpersonal, negotiation and presentation skills.
• Solid understanding of market trends and customer dynamics.
• Strong business acumen and strategic mindset.
• Comfortable working in complex, matrixed organisations with global reach and interaction.