Technical Applications Lead - Dairy Solutions

Saputo Inc.; White Bear Lake (MN); On-site; USD 90,000 - 118,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Development opportunities

Meaningful compensation

Community impact

Job summary

Saputo Cheese USA Inc. is seeking a Manager, R&D (Technical Sales) to lead as the technical liaison across Sales, R&D, Operations, and customers.

You will translate product capabilities into customer solutions, drive growth, and lead cross-functional initiatives that impact product performance and opportunity management. The role requires 7+ years in related technical roles, a strong dairy/food science background, and the ability to travel 30–40% to support customer visits and development

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Dairy Science, Chemistry, Engineering, or a related technical discipline required; advanced degree preferred.
• 7+ years of experience in technical sales, technical service, product development, R&D, applications, or a related customer-facing technical role within food, dairy, ingredients, or CPG industries.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary technical liaison between Customers, Sales, R&D, Operations, and Technical Services to drive customer satisfaction, business growth, and value creation.
• Lead customer-facing technical initiatives by partnering with customers to understand product requirements, application needs, emerging opportunities, and quality concerns, translating these insights into actionable business solutions.
• Partner with Operations and R&D to support product development, commercialization efforts, process improvements, and product performance evaluations, including assessing the impact of manufacturing and process changes on product quality and application performance.
• Develop and maintain key customer application, performance, and market intelligence data to support business development, innovation initiatives, and informed decision-making.
• Evaluate customer quality issues, technical challenges, and product opportunities, coordinating cross-functional teams to ensure timely resolution and a superior customer experience.
• Support strategic customer accounts by providing technical expertise during customer visits, product evaluations, application reviews, and new business development activities.
• Partner closely with Sales to provide rapid and effective responses to customer needs, including sample requests, product recommendations, technical support, and commercialization activities
• Evaluate competitive products, market trends, and customer requirements to identify opportunities for portfolio growth, product differentiation, and competitive advantage.
• Analyze product performance, customer feedback, and application data to generate insights and recommendations that support continuous improvement, innovation, and customer value creation.
• Present technical findings, product performance evaluations, customer opportunities, and strategic recommendations to senior leadership and key stakeholders.
• Support the Sales organization through technical training, product expertise, and guidance on customer opportunities, applications, and sensitive quality matters.
• Foster strong cross-functional collaboration and act as a positive ambassador for Saputo’s culture, values, and commitment to operational excellence and customer success.

Skills

Technical sales

Cross-functional

Communication

Presentation skills

Project management

Travel required

Education

Bachelor's in Food Science/Dairy/Chemistry/Engineering

Job description

Saputo Cheese USA Inc. is seeking a Manager, R&D (Technical Sales) to lead as the technical liaison across Sales, R&D, Operations, and customers.

You will translate product capabilities into customer solutions, drive growth, and lead cross-functional initiatives that impact product performance and opportunity management. The role requires 7+ years in related technical roles, a strong dairy/food science background, and the ability to travel 30–40% to support customer visits and development