Research and Development Value Creation Manager

Principal Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Lead the scale-up of new products with a specific focus on "designed-in" profitability.
• Establish test designs that validate both product quality and process efficiency.
• Identify and execute process improvement opportunities, new technologies, and cost-reduction initiatives to enhance the bottom line of Prepared & Harvest operations.
• Troubleshoot production hurdles that impact yield or efficiency.
• Collect and analyze data to implement sustainable solutions that prevent value leakage.
• Ensure plants adhere to optimized specifications and processes.
• Serve as the key resource for maintaining technical specs that balance manufacturing ease with product integrity.
• Cook up with R&D, QA, Operations, and CI to resolve complex quality and manufacturing issues.
• Act as a technical liaison for capital projects to ensure new equipment supports value creation goals.
• Manage multiple product/process development projects from concept to plant floor.
• Document results, track project costs, and recommend next steps based on technical and financial viability.
• Collaborate with Regulatory and FSQA to ensure all value-engineered changes (such as ingredient substitutions or process shifts) comply with safety and labeling standards.
• Partner with Procurement to qualify and approve alternate raw materials and ingredients that offer cost advantages while maintaining performance.

Minimum Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree or Master’s Degree in Food Science, Meat Science, Chemical Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering
• 7+ years of related experience.
• Ability to see where technical adjustments can lead to significant financial gains.
• Proven track record of successful product scale-up and process development in a high-volume food manufacturing environment.
• Strong mastery of SPC, process capability assessments, and data-driven problem solving.
• Demonstrated project management skills with the ability to influence cross-functional teams.
• Deep understanding of meat science and the variables that impact yield and throughput.
• Strong communication skills to translate technical "wins" into business value for stakeholders.

Physical Requirements and Environmental Factors

• Position is remote with 50-75% of travel to production facilities and pilot plants.
• Must be comfortable working in diverse manufacturing environments hot, cold and wet.

Pay

The salary range for this position is $101,000 - $151,000 per year, based on experience and qualifications with annual bonus available (variable depending on performance).

Benefits

• Medical/Rx
• 401(k) with employer match after 1 year
• Critical illness, accident insurance
• Dental, vision, life insurance
• Optional group life insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability protection
• Flexible spending accounts and paid time off