This position is located in Forest Grove, Oregon. Any qualified candidate must be willing to be in that location.
Job Summary
The NPD Manager position is an active hands-on product development role. The job holder will be required to manage the details of all NPD projects from bench concept to full scale launch. Proven communication and teamwork skills are essential in this role, which operates in a dynamic and cross-functional environment. This position requires an individual to manage multiple projects concurrently. A collaborative mindset and applying innovative solutions are a must. The successful candidate should have a track record of executing work plans and driving for results in a variety of challenging and complex settings.
Job Responsibilities
- Work safely in every case and promote safety at every interaction with associates
- Ability to manage Innovation projects, to assess commercial potential of new emerging food trends by pro-actively highlighting new concepts & suggestions to the business, facilitating development of new concepts in advance of competition.
- The position is an active hands-on development management role.
- The job holder will need to actively manage all NPD application initiatives from marketing vision, bench application trials, larger scale protype preparation, internal presentations to sales & R&D colleagues and customer presentations
- To work as part of a Global R&D team developing and sharing innovations with R&D teams in EMEA, US & APAC
- Good leadership skills are required to direct, drive, mentor and develop the NPD team. by providing clear priorities and timelines.
- To work closely with the site Operations team taking responsibility of leading all NPD products through from concept stage to successful launch.
- To ensure that all NPD activities are clearly prioritized in the NPD workload in line with the business strategy and meeting agreed project timelines
- Manage multiple complex projects concurrently and possess the ability to call out priority conflicts between a variety of business initiatives
- Accountable for all project aspects such as project design & timing analysis, cost analysis and
management, sourcing raw materials, prototype development, data analysis & interpretation,
etc. - Ensure products are developed within regulatory and QA guidelines (working closely with central regulatory)
- Management of NPD Samples department, prioritizing workload, timelines &quality of samples
- Manage product stability & shelf-life testing – is this in the NPD role / is this not in liaison with site Quality Department.
- Direct staff hiring, developing, and managing NPD team resources.
- Assist in mentoring staff in developing experimental and implementation
- Good English communication skills are essential. The ability to communicate effectively with customers, to discuss & present development concepts and projects.is a key part of this role.
Requirements
- BS/MS/PhD in Food Science/Technology or an equivalent
- Minimum 5-10 years in a research or product development function
- Expert understanding of food chemistry, analytical testing, formulations and processing used in food ingredient manufacturing. Ideally with some industrial food applications and product development knowledge.
- Expert understanding of key subject matter in areas such as ingredient functionality, materials, packaging, product processing and interrelationship of ingredients
- Excellent, proven communication, influencing, critical thinking and problem-solving and project management skills
- Self-motivated, energetic positive presence with high-level project management
- Strong ability to recruit, lead, coach, mentor and motivate a team
- Manage multiple assignments/tasks concurrently with the ability to prioritize work for self and team
- Advanced skills in MS Office and experience in Sales force and/or SAP is preferred.
- Must be able to travel as needed, will need a valid passport. Travel internationally for training will be required.
Environment
- Working in office, lab, outdoor, and production environment settings
- May include working in cold conditions
- Employees must be able to stand for long periods of time
- Will frequently lift materials weighing up to 50 pounds
- Travel is estimated up to 25%, and includes international trips