Bakery R&D Special Projects Lead — Innovation & Scale-Up

Rise Baking Company, LLC; Atlanta (GA); Hybrid; USD 111,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Annual bonus eligibility

401k contributions

Comprehensive benefits package

Job summary

Rise Baking Company, LLC in Tucker, GA or Minneapolis, MN seeks a senior technical project leader to drive R&D and manufacturing initiatives, focusing on new capital equipment, line installations, scaling formulations, and process innovations. You will move projects from concept to implementation with autonomy across plants and departments.

This role requires hands-on problem solving across R&D, Operations, Engineering, Quality, and Procurement, with travel to plant locations as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in food science, food engineering, baking science, or a similar technical field.
• 7+ years of bakery product development, process/manufacturing engineering, or a closely related role.
• Experience scaling formulations from R&D to full production.
• Knowledge of bakery manufacturing equipment and line installations preferred.
• Capex project experience including equipment specification, installation, and startup preferred.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple projects with limited direction.

Responsibilities

• Lead and execute special projects advancing R&D, manufacturing, and innovation.
• Develop and scale new formulations from concept to commercial production.
• Evaluate and commission new equipment; support line trials and startup troubleshooting.
• Translate bench-scale formulations into plant-ready processes.
• Collaborate with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Procurement, Marketing, and plants.
• Conduct plant trials, scale-ups, and pilot runs; adjust formulations as needed.
• Prepare project documentation, timelines, and budgets for leadership.

Skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Project management

Process scale-up

Problem solving

Capital equipment experience

Education

Bachelor's degree in food science or related field

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Rise Baking Company, LLC in Tucker, GA or Minneapolis, MN seeks a senior technical project leader to drive R&D and manufacturing initiatives, focusing on new capital equipment, line installations, scaling formulations, and process innovations. You will move projects from concept to implementation with autonomy across plants and departments.

This role requires hands-on problem solving across R&D, Operations, Engineering, Quality, and Procurement, with travel to plant locations as needed.