R&D Product Development Leader - Innovation & Execution

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

Job summary

The Kraft Heinz Company in Glenview, IL is seeking an R&D Manager for Away From Home and KHI Product Development to lead development across high-complexity projects and manage a team of product developers supporting a broad portfolio.

You will translate business needs into practical development plans, drive technical execution, and lead cross-functional collaboration with R&D, operations, quality, regulatory, marketing, and supply chain.

Qualifications

• 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 and 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, and developing technical talent
• Strong knowledge of ingredients, product formulation, processing equipment, ingredient interactions, and laboratory test methods
• Proven ability to lead product development and commercialization across multiple projects and priorities
• Strong communication, influencing, project management, and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment with changing priorities
• Strong technical judgment and ability to design effective experiments, interpret results, and adjust plans as needed
• Self-motivated and able to deliver results with a high degree of ownership in a complex environment
• Strong ability to prioritize across competing business needs and make sound tradeoff decisions
• Willingness to travel up to 30%, including travel to internal plants, co-manufacturers, suppliers, and other business locations in the United States and Canada

Responsibilities

• Lead product development across multiple cross-functional projects and product categories within the Away From Home / KHI business, including productivity, maintenance, brand maintenance, innovation, and renovation work
• Manage, coach, and develop a team of product developers, including setting priorities, providing feedback, and building technical and leadership capability across productivity, maintenance, brand maintenance, and product development responsibilities
• Translate business objectives 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 and guide the team through problem-solving and decision-making
• Communicate technical findings, recommendations, risks, and implications clearly to cross-functional stakeholders and leadership
• Manage multiple priorities concurrently and proactively identify tradeoffs, resource constraints, and priority conflicts across initiatives, including planned and unplanned maintenance and productivity asks
• Lead and support technical execution for core AFHI business priorities, including maintenance-driven updates, productivity initiatives, formula optimization, and business continuity needs
• Build strong ways of working across the team and cross-functional partners to improve execution, clarity, and accountability
• Demonstrate flexibility and willingness to learn new categories, technologies, and processing areas in support of business needs
• Ensure high-quality documentation, technical rigor, and strong executional discipline across development work
• Mentor, coach, and collaborate with colleagues within and outside the immediate team to strengthen capability and business results

Skills

Strong communication

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree + 6 years in CPG/food & beverage

Master’s degree + 5 years in relevant field

PhD + 4 years in relevant field

Job description

The Kraft Heinz Company in Glenview, IL is seeking an R&D Manager for Away From Home and KHI Product Development to lead development across high-complexity projects and manage a team of product developers supporting a broad portfolio.

You will translate business needs into practical development plans, drive technical execution, and lead cross-functional collaboration with R&D, operations, quality, regulatory, marketing, and supply chain.