Technical Lead, R&D Innovation — Food & Packaging

Kraft Heinz, Inc.; Glenview (IL); Hybrid; USD 121,000 - 151,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401k plan

Wellbeing programs

Job summary

Kraft Heinz, Inc. in Glenview, IL, seeks a Technical Lead for the Global Innovation R&D team. You will guide a cross‑disciplinary group through research, development, scale‑up, and commercialization of food and packaging solutions.

This role combines hands‑on technical leadership with strategic planning, agile methods, and collaboration with Engineering, Operations, and Quality to deliver impactful innovations. Hybrid work with on‑site presence required.

Qualifications

• BS/MS/PhD in Chemical Engineering, Biological Engineering, Packaging Engineering / Science, Materials Engineering, Food Engineering, or related field
• Minimum 8 years of relevant experience with a Bachelor’s or 7 years of relevant experience with Master’s or 6 years of relevant experience with PhD
• Demonstrated experience leading end‑to‑end product, packaging, or process development and commercialization in the food or consumer products industry, from concept through scale‑up, launch, and post‑launch assessment
• Ability to influence stakeholders and evolve processes through strong collaboration skills
• Is excited by quick‑paced environments and continuous learning
• Naturally curious and creative, eager to explore alternative solutions
• Ability to translate consumer insights into measurable product, packaging, and technical requirements
• Brings a curious, creative, and consumer‑focused mindset, with an entrepreneurial approach to navigating ambiguity, exploring alternative solutions, and learning rapidly in a fast‑paced environment
• Enjoys mentoring junior scientists through hands‑on work experience and collaboration
• Demonstrated ability and willingness to engage directly in hands‑on technical and mechanical work

Responsibilities

• Set technical direction for assigned innovation initiatives, translating ambiguous concepts and consumer or business needs into technical roadmaps, testable hypotheses, and clear success criteria.
• Lead and prioritize a portfolio of technical initiatives, balancing business value, feasibility, risk, resource requirements, and speed to market.
• Lead integrated product, packaging, and process development from early prototyping through pilot and plant trials, test‑market launch, and commercialization, as appropriate to the project scope.
• Direct rapid, hypothesis‑driven experimentation, applying scientific methods and root cause analysis to validate assumptions, resolve technical challenges, and inform development decisions.
• Provide technical oversight of material, product, packaging, and processing‑equipment interactions to deliver solutions that meet defined performance, quality, cost, and manufacturing requirements.
• Own technical scale‑up and readiness assessments, coordinating feasibility testing, specifications, supply‑chain readiness, and required food‑safety, quality, and regulatory reviews with accountable functional partners.
• Lead R&D technical commercialization activities, including equipment and product validation, fit checks, factory acceptance testing, and first‑production readiness, in partnership with Engineering, Operations, and Quality.
• Manage complex internal and external development partnerships, establishing clear deliverables, timelines, responsibilities, and escalation paths.
• Develop technical risk assessments and mitigation plans, communicating trade‑offs and evidence‑based recommendations to project teams, governance forums, and leadership.
• Partner with business and functional leaders to evaluate commercial viability, including development cost, capital requirements, manufacturing feasibility, and supply‑chain implications.
• Develop and execute IP strategies in partnership with Legal, identifying protectable inventions and opportunities to create differentiated technical solutions.
• Lead and develop technical team capabilities through coaching, clear ownership, effective delegation, and alignment of resources with project priorities.
• Engage directly in hands‑on technical and mechanical work when needed to accelerate learning, troubleshoot critical issues, and support the team.
• Integrate Agile ways of working with stage‑gate and commercialization requirements, strengthening learning speed while maintaining technical rigor and required approvals.
• Influence cross‑functional partners in Procurement, Legal, Quality, Engineering, and Operations to resolve barriers and improve innovation execution.
• Define and track technical delivery measures, assess test‑market and launch outcomes with cross‑functional partners, and transfer learning and technical knowledge to receiving teams.

Skills

Technical leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Project portfolio management

Hands-on problem solving

Agile methodology

Change management

Education

BS in Chemical/Packaging/Materials Engineering

MS/PhD preferred

Job description

Kraft Heinz, Inc. in Glenview, IL, seeks a Technical Lead for the Global Innovation R&D team. You will guide a cross‑disciplinary group through research, development, scale‑up, and commercialization of food and packaging solutions.

This role combines hands‑on technical leadership with strategic planning, agile methods, and collaboration with Engineering, Operations, and Quality to deliver impactful innovations. Hybrid work with on‑site presence required.