Manager, R&D - Product Development: Desserts

• Lead product development across multiple cross-functional projects and product categories within the Desserts business, including brand maintenance, portfolio evolution, and productivity initiatives.
• Manage, coach, and develop a team of product developers, including setting priorities, providing feedback, and building technical and leadership capability across product development and brand maintenance responsibilities.
• Translate business objectives and regulatory requirements into clear development plans and ensure effective execution from concept through commercialization.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to drive project progress, resolve technical issues, and deliver against business timelines.
• Lead product testing, qualification, and commercialization activities across laboratory, pilot plant, and production environments.
• Apply strong technical judgment to product, ingredient, process, and formulation challenges & guide the team through problem-solving and decision-making.
• Communicate technical findings, recommendations, risks, & implications clearly to cross-functional stakeholders & leadership.
• Manage multiple priorities concurrently & proactively identify tradeoffs, resource constraints, & priority conflicts across initiatives, including planned & unplanned brand maintenance asks.
• Build strong ways of working across the team & cross-functional partners to improve execution, clarity, & accountability.
• Demonstrate flexibility & willingness to learn new categories, technologies, & processing areas in support of business needs.
• Ensure high-quality documentation, technical rigor, & strong executional discipline across development work.
• Mentor, coach, & collaborate with colleagues within & outside the immediate team to strengthen capability & business results.

• Bachelor's degree required in Food Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Life Sciences, or a related field, plus a minimum of 6 years of product development experience within CPG, food & beverage, or a related industry; or master's degree plus a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience, or PhD plus a minimum of 4 years of relevant experience.
• Demonstrated people leadership experience, including leading, coaching, & developing technical talent.
• Strong knowledge of ingredients, product formulation, processing equipment, ingredient interactions, & laboratory test methods.
• Proven ability to lead product development & commercialization across multiple projects & priorities.
• Strong communication, influencing, project management, & problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment with changing priorities.
• Strong technical judgment & ability to design effective experiments, interpret results, & adjust plans as needed.
• Self-motivated & able to deliver results with a high degree of ownership in a complex environment.
• Strong ability to prioritize across competing business needs & make sound tradeoff decisions.
• Willingness to travel up to 30%, including travel to internal plants, co-manufacturers, suppliers, & other business locations in the United States & Canada.

Lift up to 30 lbs, navigate lab, storage, & manufacturing environments.

Our Total Rewards philosophy is to provide a meaningful and flexible spectrum of programs that equitably support our diverse workforce & their families & complement Kraft Heinz' strategy and values.

New Hire Base Salary Range: $ - $

Bonus:
This position is eligible for a performance-based bonus as provided by the plan terms & governing documents. The compensation offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, & experience among other factors.

Benefits:
Coverage for employees (and their eligible dependents) through affordable access to healthcare, protection, & saving for the future, we offer plans tailored to meet you & your family's needs. Coverage for benefits will be in accordance with the terms & conditions of the applicable plans & associated governing plan documents.

• Wellbeing:
  We offer events, resources, & learning opportunities that inspire a physical, social, emotional, & financial well-being lifestyle for our employees & their families.
• Physical
  - Medical, Prescription Drug, Dental, Vision, Screenings/Assessments
• Social
  - Paid Time Off, Company Holidays, Leave of Absence, Flexible Work Arrangements, Recognition,…