Director R & D Development

POSITION SUMMARY: 

The R&D Product Development Director is a subject matter expert in the field of Food, Chocolate and Confectionary processes and will oversee the product management, product lifecycle, and compliance functions at RMCF. This role will play a critical part in shaping the lifecycle of our products, ensuring food safety compliance, and meeting regulatory standards. The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker with a hands-on approach, excellent organizational skills, and a passion for delivering exceptional confectionery products to the market.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

The R&D PD Director will be expected to consistently deliver top outcomes for the following areas:

1. Participate in product launch approval review process of new opportunities, determine feasibility of running new products or ingredients in production and run line trials to successfully commercialize new products that meet customer expectations.
2. Responsible for benchtop prototyping, formulation, and ingredient interaction/functionality evaluation.
3. Manage technical customer support and R&D relationship development through on-site troubleshooting, technical training and presenting creative solutions.
4. Lead Product Research and Development and operations teams to innovate and refine the confectionery portfolio.
5. Ensure compliance with all food safety standards, including FDA and international food safety regulations (e.g., HACCP, FSMA, ISO).
6. Partner with quality assurance and operations teams to maintain the highest product safety and quality standards, while optimizing efficiency.
7. Develop, maintain, and oversee documentation required for product specifications, certifications, nutritional information, and regulatory submissions.
8. Ensure accurate and up-to-date records of all product-related compliance and certification processes.
9. Serve as the primary liaison with regulatory bodies and stay current on evolving regulations affecting the confectionery industry.
10. Maintain effective communication internally and externally on the status of new products, ongoing activities, upcoming projects, trial runs, sample generation, research results and other pertinent information.
11. Manage site product development activities. Align team resources and priorities associated with key initiatives and reports on product development monthly metrics.
12. Collaborate with site internal stakeholders including, but not limited to, Quality and Operations for problem solving internal processing issues and technical challenges.
13. Develop and measure appropriate physical parameters of product based on customer needs and submit sample to customer.
14. Develop and issue formula and nutritional to costing for pricing; evaluate current product formulations for optimal usage of raw ingredients; consider potential reformulations of ingredients and/or ingredient substitutions.

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Support the team with any other projects or duties required to be completed as needed.

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS REQUIRED:

1. Bachelor’s degree in Food Science or comparable field/relative experience.
2. 5+ years’ experience in R&D food manufacturing operations.
3. 3-5+ years’ experience managing a team.
4. General experience with kitchen and confection equipment
5. Must be able to taste and consume chocolate and related products.
6. Excellent communication skills, written and verbal.
7. Strong technical and computer skills: Microsoft skills including Excel, Word and PowerPoint.