Senior R&D Product Development Lead, Desserts

Kraft Heinz, Inc.; 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

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.