R&D Director

Michael Page International; Singapore; On-site; SGD 250,000 - 450,000; Full time

Job summary

Michael Page International in Singapore seeks an experienced Global R&D Director to lead the overall R&D and product innovation strategy across food and beverage categories, driving sustainable growth. You will build the new product development pipeline from concept through scale-up and launch, working closely with Marketing, Sales, and Supply Chain to ensure commercial success and market relevance.

Ideal candidates have 15+ years in F&B R&D with leadership, a proven track record of launching

Qualifications

• Degree or postgraduate qualification in Food Science, Food Technology, Nutrition, Chemical Engineering or a related discipline.
• 15+ years of experience in food & beverage products R&D with leadership responsibilities.
• Proven track record of launching products with meaningful commercial success.
• Experience managing full innovation lifecycle from concept to commercial launch.
• Strong consumer-driven insight, market size and margin evaluation.

Responsibilities

• Lead the overall R&D and product innovation strategy across relevant F&B categories.
• Build and manage the new product development pipeline from insight to launch.
• Translate market trends and consumer behavior into differentiated concepts.
• Partner with Marketing and Commercial to evaluate propositions, pricing and market potential.
• Drive formulation, scale-up, costs and target margins while maintaining quality.
• Work with Manufacturing and Supply Chain to industrialise concepts at scale.
• Develop a disciplined stage-gate process with clear success metrics.
• Review portfolio for renovation, cost optimization and localisation.
• Identify emerging tech and ingredients to unlock new categories.
• Lead, coach and develop the R&D organisation and present to senior leadership.

Skills

Leadership

R&D Strategy

New Product Development

Stage-Gate Process

Stakeholder Management

Commercial Acumen

Market Trends Analysis

Cross-functional Collaboration

Education

Food Science

Food Technology

Nutrition

Chemical Engineering

Related Discipline

Job description

• Leading Asian food & beverage group
• Global R&D Director based in Singapore

About Our Client

We are partnering with a leading Asian food & beverage group to appoint an R&D Director based in Singapore.

Job Description

• Lead the overall R&D and product innovation strategy across relevant food and beverage categories, identifying opportunities that can generate sustainable commercial growth.
• Build and manage the new product development pipeline from consumer insight and concept creation through formulation, pilot trials, scale-up and commercial launch.
• Translate market trends, consumer behaviour and competitive intelligence into differentiated product concepts with clear commercial potential.
• Partner closely with Marketing and Commercial teams to evaluate product propositions, pricing, positioning and market potential before committing significant R&D resources.
• Drive product formulation and reformulation, balancing taste, quality, nutrition, shelf life, manufacturing feasibility, ingredient cost and target margin.
• Work with manufacturing and supply chain teams to ensure new concepts can be successfully industrialised and produced consistently at commercial scale.
• Develop a disciplined stage-gate innovation process with clear success metrics covering consumer acceptance, technical feasibility, cost, margin and revenue potential.
• Review the existing product portfolio and identify opportunities for renovation, cost optimisation, premiumisation, localisation or rationalisation.
• Identify emerging food technologies, ingredients and processing capabilities that can create competitive advantages or unlock new product categories.
• Build relationships with external ingredient suppliers, technology partners, universities and research organisations to accelerate innovation.
• Lead, coach and develop the R&D organisation, creating a culture that is consumer-focused, commercially accountable and fast in bringing products to market.
• Present innovation strategies, business cases and product recommendations to senior leadership, clearly linking technical decisions to commercial outcomes.

The Successful Applicant

• Degree or postgraduate qualification in Food Science, Food Technology, Nutrition, Chemical Engineering or a related discipline.
• At least 15 years of experience within food & beverage products R&D, with significant leadership responsibility.
• Strong track record of launching new products that have achieved meaningful commercial success in the market.
• Experience managing the full innovation lifecycle from concept development through formulation, scale-up, manufacturing and commercial launch.
• Strong understanding of consumer-driven innovation rather than purely laboratory-led product development.
• Commercially minded with the ability to evaluate market size, consumer demand, product positioning, cost, margin and revenue potential alongside technical feasibility.
• Strong exposure to categories such as beverages, ready-to-drink products, instant foods, noodles, snacks, sauces, convenience foods or other mass-market F&B products would be highly relevant.
• Experience working closely with Marketing, Sales, Consumer Insights, Manufacturing and Supply Chain teams.
• Strong understanding of ingredient functionality, formulation, sensory evaluation, shelf-life optimisation and food manufacturing processes.
• Proven ability to challenge conventional product-development thinking and make clear decisions about which innovation projects should be accelerated, changed or stopped.
• Strong leadership and stakeholder-management capability, with the ability to influence senior business leaders as well as technical teams.

What's on Offer

• Experience managing the full innovation lifecycle from concept development through formulation, scale-up, manufacturing and commercial launch.
• Leading the Regional R&D team in Singapore.