R&D Product Innovation Project Manager- Food

About the position

Location:

Hackensack, NJ OR New Century, KS

Salary: 150-165K
- Depending on experience

Hybrid: 2-3 days in Office or plant

The Technical Project Lead / Product Design Lead owns the technical delivery and design leadership of complex product innovation, renovation and commercialization initiatives across Flora Food Group’s portfolio. The role translates business and consumer needs into robust product and process solutions, leading cross‑functional R&D projects from concept through factory implementation. Operating at a senior expert level, the role ensures technical excellence, delivery discipline and alignment between R&D, Supply Chain and markets, while shaping future product design capabilities.

• Own end‑to‑end technical delivery of high‑complexity product innovation, renovation and transformation initiatives, translating consumer needs, culinary insight and competitor benchmarks into robust product and process solutions that meet performance, quality, cost and timing objectives.
• Act as the R&D technical authority in multidisciplinary project teams, balancing consumer relevance, technical feasibility and supply‑chain constraints to guide design choices and trade‑off decisions.
• Translate portfolio and brand strategy into executable product and technology roadmaps, leading and developing senior technologists and technical project leads to deliver against agreed priorities and standards.
• Ensure readiness for scale‑up and commercialization by validating factory capability, specifications and risk‑mitigation plans, including dHACCP, across both Flora Food Group factories and third‑party manufacturers (3PMs).
• Deliver product design solutions across retail, professional and industrial applications, adapting formulations, processing and specifications to channel‑specific requirements while ensuring consistent consumer benefit.
• Shape product and process design strategies in close collaboration with Product Science experts and ingredient/technology suppliers, integrating scientific understanding, consumer insights and external innovation into scalable product designs.

2–8 reports

• Functional/ technical competencies
  :
  • Deep expertise in food product and process design within FMCG environments.
  • Proven experience leading complex R&D projects from concept to factory implementation.
  • Strong understanding of scale‑up, industrialization and supply‑chain integration.
  • Ability to translate portfolio strategy into technical roadmaps and execution plans.
  • Experience managing senior technical talent and/or multiple work streams.
• Behavioural/ leadership competencies
  :
  • Owns outcomes and drives delivery through influence and technical authority.
  • Strategic and structured thinker, able to simplify complexity and make decisions under ambiguity.
  • Strong people leader, developing high‑performing technical teams.
  • Confident stakeholder manager, operating effectively at senior leadership level.
• Qualifications / Education
  :
  • Required:
    
    Master’s degree (or equivalent experience) in Food Science, Food Technology, Chemical Engineering or related field.
  • Preferred: 8–12+ years’ experience in R&D product design, technical project leadership or commercialization roles.
• Knowledge
  :
  • Advanced knowledge of food formulation, processing and industrialization.
  • Advanced understanding of R&D portfolio management and project governance.
  • Intermediate to advanced knowledge of regulatory, quality and supply‑chain systems.

Regular international travel for factory scale‑ups, supplier engagement and market support.

Feeder roles:
Senior Product Technologist, Senior Product Scientist. Potential next career steps:
Head of Product Design.

Product Design Lead, Function R&D, Reporting to Head of Product Design.

Flora Food Group is an employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and equal opportunities for all. We recruit based only on values, qualifications, performance, skills, behaviours, experience, and knowledge. We ensure job advertisements are free from unintentional bias.

No personal characteristics should be a barrier to joining Flora Food Group. We prohibit discrimination and harassment based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or other personal characteristics.