Senior Leader, Powder Product Development

Danone; Utrecht; On-site; EUR 98,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Health care

Pension

Flexible leave

Job summary

Danone’s Specialized Nutrition R&I unit in Utrecht seeks a Senior Team Leader Product Development, Factories Powder to drive innovation and scalable product launches. You will steer a high-performing team across global supply points, coordinating with Operations, Quality, Procurement and R&I to deliver impactful nutrition solutions.

You will mentor engineers and scientists, manage projects from feasibility to launch, and ensure designs meet regulatory, safety, sensory and performance criteria

Qualifications

• MSc/PhD in Food Technology or Chemical Engineering.
• 8+ years in Product Design/Development, Quality, or Innovation.
• Strong powder formula nutrition know-how.
• Continuous improvement mindset; Green/Black Belt Six Sigma a plus.
• Stakeholder management and cross-functional influence.
• Experience leading teams in R&D/Quality/Operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead a large team of (Senior) Product Development Managers across global supply points.
• Ensure the team links global R&I with the factory on product and improvement topics.
• Lead project management: feasibility studies, risk assessment, qualification plans to product launch.
• Ensure product compliance with regulatory, food safety, nutritional, sensory and physical/chemical standards.
• Guarantee producibility of new/reformulated products with performance and efficiency targets.
• Collaborate with Center of Excellence on Product Design and Specification.
• Coach and mentor team members on challenging development projects.
• Inspire growth, excellence and business-minded execution within the team.
• Define strategic resource planning between Inno, F4G and capability projects.
• Act as the F4G SPOC for all Categories.
• Grow team expertise to deliver tangible outcomes and milestones with high quality.

Skills

Team leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Project management

Stakeholder management

Communication skills

Education

MSc/PhD in Food Technology / Food Science

Chemical engineering

Tools

Six Sigma (Green/Black Belt)

Job description

Danone’s Specialized Nutrition R&I unit in Utrecht seeks a Senior Team Leader Product Development, Factories Powder to drive innovation and scalable product launches. You will steer a high-performing team across global supply points, coordinating with Operations, Quality, Procurement and R&I to deliver impactful nutrition solutions.

You will mentor engineers and scientists, manage projects from feasibility to launch, and ensure designs meet regulatory, safety, sensory and performance criteria