Food Product Development Manager; Consumer Packaged Goods

Who We Are

Since 1955, we have been on a mission to passionately feed millions daily with high quality food people enjoy! We are a third-generation family‑owned and professionally managed organization with a commitment to strategic growth. We continue to be successful because of talented people, just like you, who choose to join our family and call E.A. Sween home. We pride ourselves on fostering a welcoming, respectful, and rewarding culture where employees are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work each and every day.

At E.A. Sween, our team members are seen, heard, and appreciated not just for what they do, but for who they are. We hope you’ll join us!

Compensation: The target salary for this position is $125,000 annually, consistent with our internal compensation framework. This position is classified as Grade 16, with a full pay range of $97,417.80 to $. You are eligible for an incentive bonus up to 15% of your annual salary, prorated based on your start date. Final pay will be determined by your experience, skills, internal equity, and available budget.

We are seeking a Product Development Manager to lead product development for ready‑to‑eat food platforms, including sandwiches, wraps, handheld meals, and related prepared foods. This role combines hands‑on development with team leadership to create products with consistent quality, consumer appeal, and clear business value. The Product Development Manager will lead culinary concept development, guide technical formulation, oversee bench and plant trials, and support commercialization from concept through launch.

The ideal candidate brings strong product development experience, sound culinary judgment, food science capability, and proven people leadership.

• Lead new product development projects from concept through commercialization, ensuring products meet business, consumer, operational, and food safety requirements.
• Direct the development of ready‑to‑eat sandwiches, wraps, handheld meals, deli products, sauces, spreads, proteins, bakery‑based foods, and prepared food systems.
• Manage product renovation, line extension, quality improvement, cost reduction, ingredient substitution, and productivity initiatives across the product portfolio.
• Lead bench development, culinary gold‑standard creation, plant trials, first‑production runs, and post‑launch product evaluations.
• Design and execute experiments, analyze data, draw conclusions, and make sound technical recommendations to support product and process decisions.
• Develop and approve formulas, processing instructions, product specifications, trial reports, test data, and commercialization documents.
• Apply food science principles related to flavor, texture, moisture migration, water activity, pH, emulsions, thermal processing, shelf life, and food safety.
• Manage multiple technical projects with defined timelines, risk assessments, action plans, stakeholder alignment and consistent communication.
• Apply culinary expertise to product design, flavor development, ingredient selection, sensory strategy, and overall eating experience.
• Present product concepts, prototypes, technical updates, and recommendations to cross‑functional leaders, customers, and key stakeholders.
• Serve as a technical subject matter expert in customer meetings, product presentations, commercialization reviews, and internal decision‑making forums.

• Lead and develop a high‑performing R&D team grounded in accountability, curiosity, collaboration, food safety, and continuous improvement.
• Strengthen culinary, technical, and commercialization capability across the R&D function through coaching, training, and clear performance expectations.
• Establish clear priorities, assign project responsibilities, review technical work, and ensure the team delivers against business, customer, and commercialization objectives.
• Manage, coach, and develop R&D scientists, technologists, technicians, and other team members to improve performance, engagement, and technical depth.
• Monitor industry trends, culinary…