Bakery R&D Technical Specialist - Process & Trials

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery; Tarboro (NC); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery is seeking a Bakery Technical Services Specialist (R&D) in Tarboro, NC. This technical, individual contributor role partners with Operations, R&D, FSQA, Engineering, and Supply Chain to support trials, validation, and continuous improvement of bakery processes and products.

You will lead plant trials, translate formulas into repeatable manufacturing processes, and develop documentation while training bakery teams to ensure smooth commercialization and reduced risk.

Qualifications

• Technical degree in Food Science, Process Engineering, Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement, or related field preferred.
• Experience in bakery production, bakery QA, or food manufacturing is highly recommended.
• Minimum of 5 years of work experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Strong cross-functional communication across multiple levels of the organization.
• Strong organizational, project management, and team leadership skills.
• Excellent problem-solving, root cause analysis, and data analysis skills.
• Strong technical writing and documentation skills.
• Strong computer skills, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Experience with manufacturing, ERP, and PLM systems preferred.
• Project management training or experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Partner with R&D and cross-functional teams to align assigned bakery technical activities with project objectives, supporting new product introductions, reformulations, and supply chain improvement initiatives.
• Translate formulas, product requirements, and packaging requirements into repeatable manufacturing processes.
• Coordinate trial planning and prework to enable successful plant trial execution, including alignment on objectives, materials, documentation, resources, timing, and success criteria.
• Lead assigned investigations of product and process issues using structured problem-solving, data collection, root cause analysis, and sustainable corrective actions.
• Proactively identify manufacturing risks, process gaps, and opportunities to improve product consistency, process capability, efficiency, and production readiness.
• Develop, maintain, and improve technical documentation and standard work for assigned products and processes.

Skills

Cross-functional communication

Organizational skills

Project management

Problem solving

Data analysis

Technical writing

Microsoft Office

ERP systems

PLM systems

Education

Technical degree (Food Science/Process Engineering/Manufacturing/CI)

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

Job description

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery is seeking a Bakery Technical Services Specialist (R&D) in Tarboro, NC. This technical, individual contributor role partners with Operations, R&D, FSQA, Engineering, and Supply Chain to support trials, validation, and continuous improvement of bakery processes and products.

You will lead plant trials, translate formulas into repeatable manufacturing processes, and develop documentation while training bakery teams to ensure smooth commercialization and reduced risk.