Technical Director

Red Rover Recruitment; Toronto; On-site; CAD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

North American CPG Manufacturer in Etobicoke, Ontario is seeking a Technical Director for Product Development & Commercialization. This senior role leads formulation, scale-up and commercialization of household chemical products from concept to production, balancing performance, cost and regulatory compliance.

The candidate will supervise chemists and lab personnel, partner with operations and engineering, and ensure technical robustness across laundry, dishwashing and surface-cleaning lines.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive formulation and product-development experience.
• Experience with surfactants, builders, enzymes, polymers and other ingredients.
• Leadership experience managing chemists and technical staff.
• Experience bringing formulations from lab to scale-up and commercial manufacturing.
• Understanding of formulation economics and balancing cost with performance.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and reformulation of laundry detergents, dishwashing products, and cleaners.
• Translate customer requirements and economics into viable formulations.
• Guide products from lab to pilot trials, plant scale-up and commercial production.
• Collaborate with Operations and Engineering on formulation and manufacturing issues.
• Work with Quality and Regulatory on ingredient compliance and product specifications.
• Develop and mentor chemists and laboratory staff.

Skills

Formulation

Product development

Surfactant-based formulations

Troubleshooting

Cost optimization

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering or related field

Advanced degree (asset)

Job description

Technical Director - Product Development & Commercialization

Location: Etobicoke, Ontario

We are recruiting a Technical Director - Product Development & Commercialization for one of North America’s largest CPG manufacturers in the cleaning and household care space.

This is a senior technical leadership role for an accomplished product-development chemist who understands how to turn chemistry into commercially successful products.

The successful candidate will lead product development across formulation, scale-up and commercialization while remaining close enough to the science to challenge formulations, solve difficult technical problems and guide the team when products do not behave as expected.

This is not an administrative R&D position. It is a technical leadership role at the intersection of formulation, manufacturing, customer requirements and product economics.

You will lead the development and commercialization of laundry, dishwashing, surface-cleaning and other household and consumer chemical products.

Working from the earliest customer brief through formulation, testing, scale-up and commercial production, you will balance product performance, raw-material cost, regulatory requirements and manufacturing realities.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and reformulation of laundry detergents, dishwashing products, surface cleaners and other household and consumer chemical products.
• Translate customer requirements, performance benchmarks and target economics into commercially viable formulations.
• Apply strong working knowledge of surfactants, builders, enzymes, polymers, solvents, rheology modifiers, fragrances, preservatives and other functional ingredients while remaining technically engaged in complex formulation and troubleshooting.
• Lead products from laboratory development through pilot trials, plant scale-up and successful commercial production, establishing critical processing parameters including mixing, temperature, shear, order of addition, processing time and finished-product specifications.
• Partner with Operations and Engineering to resolve formulation and manufacturing issues involving stability, viscosity, separation, foaming, ingredient interactions, processing conditions and packaging compatibility.
• Identify formulation and raw-material opportunities that reduce cost without compromising performance, quality or manufacturability.
• Serve as a senior technical partner to customers throughout development and commercialization, translating customer requirements into practical development programs and technical solutions.
• Work closely with Quality and Regulatory on ingredient compliance, product claims, SDS documentation, registrations and technical specifications.
• Lead and develop product-development chemists and technical laboratory personnel while helping shape the company's broader product, technology and innovation strategy.

You bring:

• A bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering or a related scientific discipline; an advanced degree is an asset.
• 10+ years of progressive formulation and product-development experience, ideally within household cleaning, laundry, dishwashing, institutional cleaning or closely related formulated chemical products.
• Significant hands-on experience developing surfactant-based formulations, with a strong understanding of raw-material functionality and ingredient interactions.
• Demonstrated success taking formulations from laboratory development through scale-up and successful commercial manufacturing.
• Strong technical troubleshooting ability at both the formulation and manufacturing level.
• Strong understanding of formulation economics and the ability to balance product performance with raw-material cost and manufacturing feasibility.
• Experience leading and developing chemists, scientists or other technical personnel.
• Experience within chemical manufacturing, CPG, private-label or contract manufacturing environments.
• Working knowledge of Canadian and U.S. regulatory requirements affecting household and consumer chemical products.

Particularly Relevant Experience

Direct experience with laundry and dishwashing chemistry, concentrated products, PVA-based unit-dose systems, and liquid or powder formulations will be especially valuable.

Experience supporting major-brand or private-label customers, sustainable chemistry, ingredient substitution and formulation cost optimization will also be highly relevant.