Manager, R&D - Product Development: Desserts

Kraft Heinz; Glenview (IL); On-site; USD 104,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Kraft Heinz, Inc. in Glenview, IL seeks an experienced product development leader for the Desserts portfolio. You will drive cross-functional development, maintain brand continuity, and evolve the portfolio while mentoring a team of product developers across concept to commercialization.

The role requires a strong background in ingredients, formulation, and lab methods, with proven leadership, collaboration, and problem-solving skills. Travel up to 30% is expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Life Sciences, or related field, plus a minimum of 6 years in product development in CPG/food & beverage; or advanced degrees with fewer years.
• Demonstrated people leadership experience including coaching and developing technical talent.
• Strong knowledge of ingredients, product formulation, processing equipment, ingredient interactions, and lab test methods.
• Proven ability to lead product development and commercialization across multiple projects and priorities.
• Strong communication, influencing, project management, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment with changing priorities.
• Self-motivated with ownership in a complex environment.
• Willingness to travel up to 30%, including travel to internal plants, co-manufacturers, suppliers, and other locations in the US & Canada.

Responsibilities

• Lead product development across cross-functional projects and categories within Desserts, including brand maintenance and portfolio evolution.
• Manage, coach, and develop a team of product developers, setting priorities and building capability.
• Translate business objectives and regulatory requirements into clear development plans and ensure execution from concept to commercialization.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to drive progress, resolve issues, and meet timelines.
• Lead testing, qualification, and commercialization across lab, pilot plant, and production environments.
• Apply technical judgment to product, ingredient, process, and formulation challenges and guide problem-solving.
• Communicate findings, recommendations, risks, and implications to stakeholders and leadership.
• Manage multiple priorities and resolve tradeoffs across initiatives, including brand maintenance asks.
• Improve execution, clarity, and accountability through strong ways of working with teams.
• Demonstrate flexibility to learn new categories, technologies, and processing areas.
• Ensure high-quality documentation, technical rigor, and discipline across development work.
• Mentor and collaborate to strengthen capability and business results.

Skills

People leadership

Ingredients knowledge

Formulation expertise

Communication skills

Project management

Problem solving

Laboratory methods

Education

Bachelor's in Food Science or related

Master's in related field

PhD in related field

Job description

Responsibilities

• Lead product development across multiple cross-functional projects and product categories within the Desserts business, including brand maintenance, portfolio evolution, and productivity initiatives.
• Manage, coach, and develop a team of product developers, including setting priorities, providing feedback, and building technical and leadership capability across product development and brand maintenance responsibilities.
• Translate business objectives and regulatory requirements into clear development plans and ensure effective execution from concept through commercialization.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to drive project progress, resolve technical issues, and deliver against business timelines.
• Lead product testing, qualification, and commercialization activities across laboratory, pilot plant, and production environments.
• Apply strong technical judgment to product, ingredient, process, and formulation challenges & guide the team through problem-solving and decision-making.
• Communicate technical findings, recommendations, risks, & implications clearly to cross-functional stakeholders & leadership.
• Manage multiple priorities concurrently & proactively identify tradeoffs, resource constraints, & priority conflicts across initiatives, including planned & unplanned brand maintenance asks.
• Build strong ways of working across the team & cross-functional partners to improve execution, clarity, & accountability.
• Demonstrate flexibility & willingness to learn new categories, technologies, & processing areas in support of business needs.
• Ensure high-quality documentation, technical rigor, & strong executional discipline across development work.
• Mentor, coach, & collaborate with colleagues within & outside the immediate team to strengthen capability & business results.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required in Food Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Life Sciences, or a related field, plus a minimum of 6 years of product development experience within CPG, food & beverage, or a related industry; or master's degree plus a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience, or PhD plus a minimum of 4 years of relevant experience.
• Demonstrated people leadership experience, including leading, coaching, & developing technical talent.
• Strong knowledge of ingredients, product formulation, processing equipment, ingredient interactions, & laboratory test methods.
• Proven ability to lead product development & commercialization across multiple projects & priorities.
• Strong communication, influencing, project management, & problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment with changing priorities.
• Strong technical judgment & ability to design effective experiments, interpret results, & adjust plans as needed.
• Self-motivated & able to deliver results with a high degree of ownership in a complex environment.
• Strong ability to prioritize across competing business needs & make sound tradeoff decisions.
• Willingness to travel up to 30%, including travel to internal plants, co-manufacturers, suppliers, & other business locations in the United States & Canada.

Physical Demands

Lift up to 30 lbs, navigate lab, storage, & manufacturing environments.

Compensation & Benefits

Our Total Rewards philosophy is to provide a meaningful and flexible spectrum of programs that equitably support our diverse workforce & their families & complement Kraft Heinz' strategy and values.

New Hire Base Salary Range: $104,200.00 - $130,200.00

Bonus: This position is eligible for a performance-based bonus as provided by the plan terms & governing documents. The compensation offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, & experience among other factors.

Benefits: Coverage for employees (and their eligible dependents) through affordable access to healthcare, protection, & saving for the future, we offer plans tailored to meet you & your family's needs. Coverage for benefits will be in accordance with the terms & conditions of the applicable plans & associated governing plan documents.

• Wellbeing: We offer events, resources, & learning opportunities that inspire a physical, social, emotional, & financial well-being lifestyle for our employees & their families.
• Physical - Medical, Prescription Drug, Dental, Vision, Screenings/Assessments
• Social - Paid Time Off, Company Holidays, Leave of Absence, Flexible Work Arrangements, Recognition, Training
• Emotional - Employee Assistance Program , Wellbeing Programs, Family Support Programs
• Financial - 401k, Life, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Disability

This job description is not designed to cover or contain all duties or responsibilities that are required of the role. Duties or responsibilities may change or be added with or without notice.