Senior Director, Research & Development – Healthcare Nutrition (Dysphagia Focus)

About the role

The Lyons Health Labs division is seeking a Senior Director of R&D to lead the strategic direction and execution of innovation for the healthcare nutrition portfolio, with a primary focus on dysphagia and related swallowing disorders.

Responsibilities

• Lead the full lifecycle development of healthcare nutrition products, including thickened liquids, texture-modified foods, oral nutritional supplements, and hydration solutions for dysphagia patients.
• Ensure all products meet clinical requirements for safety, efficacy, palatability, and compliance with IDDSI standards.
• Drive formulation strategies that balance nutritional adequacy, sensory acceptance, stability, and ease of use in clinical and homecare settings.
• Collaborate with Operations and Quality to ensure scalable, compliant manufacturing processes (including consistency in viscosity and texture).
• Build a robust innovation pipeline addressing unmet needs in dysphagia, malnutrition, and related conditions (e.g., oncology, geriatrics, post-acute care).
• Lead the development of clinically relevant, evidence-based claims (e.g., swallowing safety, hydration support, nutritional adequacy, compliance with IDDSI levels).
• Partner with Regulatory and Medical Affairs to ensure claims meet requirements for healthcare nutrition, including FDA (e.g., FSMP considerations where applicable), global regulatory bodies, and healthcare institution standards.
• Establish rigorous internal processes for claims substantiation, documentation, and audit readiness.
• Translate clinical and scientific evidence into clear, defensible claims for healthcare professionals and caregivers.
• Define and execute the scientific roadmap supporting the dysphagia and healthcare nutrition portfolio.
• Design and oversee clinical studies, real-world evidence generation, and usability studies focused on: Swallow safety and aspiration risk reduction, Patient compliance and acceptance, Nutritional outcomes and hydration status.
• Ensure alignment with clinical guidelines and frameworks (e.g., IDDSI, ASPEN, ESPEN).
• Identify evidence gaps and prioritize research investments to strengthen product differentiation.
• Build and manage collaborations with hospitals, long-term care facilities, speech-language pathologists (SLPs), dietitians, and academic partners.
• Serve as a scientific leader and external ambassador in the field of dysphagia and healthcare nutrition.
• Engage with key opinion leaders (SLPs, RDs, physicians) to inform product design and validation.
• Support clinical education initiatives and contribute to publications, white papers, and conference presentations.
• Monitor emerging science, clinical practices, and regulatory changes impacting dysphagia management.
• Drive patient- and caregiver-centered innovation, focusing on ease of preparation, consistency, taste, and adherence.
• Incorporate human factors and real-world use conditions (hospital, LTC, homecare) into product design.
• Identify opportunities for differentiation through format innovation, ingredient technology, and delivery systems.
• Build and lead a high-performing R&D team with expertise in formulation science, clinical research, and regulatory science.
• Partner closely with Regulatory, Quality, Marketing, and Commercial teams to ensure successful product launches and lifecycle management.
• Establish clear goals, KPIs, and development pathways for the R&D organization.
• Act as a key advisor to executive leadership on healthcare nutrition strategy and innovation.

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience in dysphagia-related (e.g., thickening systems, texture-modified nutrition) or other medical nutrition product development.
• Strong understanding of healthcare nutrition regulatory pathways (including FSMP considerations, FDA, EFSA, etc.) and claims substantiation requirements.
• Strategic and patient-centric mindset with strong clinical orientation.
• Ability to translate complex clinical and scientific data into actionable product strategies.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and stakeholder management skills.
• Results-driven with high accountability and operational discipline.
• Excellent communication skills with both scientific and commercial audiences.
• Proven track record in people leadership (developing, coaching, mentoring, directing) with demonstrative team-building and collaboration skills.
• Strong business acumen with an ability to mesh business needs with technical competencies.
• Must have the ability to adapt to change with proven ability to accelerate the performance of R&D teams.
• Ability to develop both long-range plans that address key business and technical needs and short-term operational projects that support customer needs.