R&D Manager

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For almost 130 years, Abel & Schafer has been producing baked goods in Europe under the KOMPLET brand name. In 1982 the company established a manufacturing facility in Ronkonkoma, NY to serve the fast-growing markets of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central/South America, and the Caribbean. To support our continuous growth in these markets, we are currently recruiting a Research & Development Manager who will take full responsibility over all bread and pastry R&D projects and take the lead in developing new product ideas and concepts.

• Manage all bread and pastry R&D projects.
• Develop product (re) formulations and recipes.
• Develop strong cross-functional relationships with the R&D community as well as with Marketing, Sales, Quality, Operations, Engineering, Regulatory, and others.
• Evaluate new ingredients, materials, products and processes with an emphasis on NAFNAC and clean label solutions.
• Execute pilot lab runs, consumer tests, plant trials and validation trials.
• Prepare operating guidelines for product development and ensure a proper documentation flow.
• Generate recipes and supporting documentation for lab samples, such as sample request forms and project labels.
• Participate in resolution of complaints and QA cases.
• Generate re-work recipes when necessary.
• Lead special projects concerning products, processes, equipment, and facility concepts and design.
• Generate Signum Projects and project labels.
• Participate in Food Safety Team meetings.
• Manage time effectively and deliver projects on time and in full.

• B.S. degree in Bakery Science, Food Sciences, Food Engineering, or related scientific field.
• Master Baker or Pastry chef certification.
• 5+ years’ experience in formulation of bakery products.
• 5+ years leadership experience.
• Excellent organizational and communication (written and oral) skills.
• Excellent project management skills with ability to prioritize multiple activities simultaneously.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams).
• Willing to travel as required.
• Language skills:
  English; knowledge of Spanish and/or German a plus.