Cream Cheese R&D Leader: Innovation & Team Growth

The Kraft Heinz Company; Glenview (IL); Hybrid; USD 104,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

The Kraft Heinz Company is seeking an R&D Manager for Cream Cheese Product Development to lead cross-functional development across a range of crema cheese initiatives in the Philadelphia business.

You will manage a team of product developers, translate business needs into clear development plans, and drive execution from concept through commercialization with strong collaboration across R&D, operations, quality, regulatory, marketing, and supply chain.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree plus 6+ years in product development in CPG/food/beverage; or Master’s with 5+ years; or PhD with 4+ years.
• Experience with cheese and dairy ingredients, formulations, or dairy science.
• Demonstrated people leadership experience including coaching and developing talent.
• Strong knowledge of consumer goods, food chemistry, analytical testing, formulations and processing.
• Proven ability to lead product development and commercialization across multiple projects and priorities.

Responsibilities

• Lead product development across cross-functional projects for the Philadelphia crema cheese business, including innovation and cost reduction.
• Manage, coach, and develop a team of product developers with priority setting and feedback.
• Translate business objectives into clear development plans covering concept to commercialization.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to drive progress, resolve issues, and meet timelines.
• Lead product testing, qualification, and commercialization across lab, pilot plant and production.
• Apply technical judgment to challenges and guide problem solving and decisions.
• Communicate findings, risks, and implications clearly to stakeholders and leadership.
• Manage multiple priorities, identify tradeoffs, and handle resource constraints.
• Build effective ways of working across teams to improve execution and accountability.
• Demonstrate flexibility to learn new categories, technologies, and processing areas.

Skills

People leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Project management

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Life Sciences, or related field

Master’s degree in related field

PhD in related field

Job description

The Kraft Heinz Company is seeking an R&D Manager for Cream Cheese Product Development to lead cross-functional development across a range of crema cheese initiatives in the Philadelphia business.

You will manage a team of product developers, translate business needs into clear development plans, and drive execution from concept through commercialization with strong collaboration across R&D, operations, quality, regulatory, marketing, and supply chain.