Nutrient Survival Job Description
Product Development Lead
Industry
Food and Beverage Manufacturing and Fulfillment
Employment Type
Full-time, on-site
Shift
Day shift
Schedule: Monday through Friday 9 AM to 5:30 PM
Position: Non-Exempt
Company Description: Nutrient Survival provides high-quality performance nutrition food and drinks made with real ingredients and powerful nutrition for Americans to stay healthy, strong, and alert. Our Special Ops grade nutrition is perfect for today's challenges and everything ahead. We are a team of passionate individuals committed to making a difference in the world. We are headquartered in a 100,000 sq. ft. facility with our offices, test kitchens, ovens, food prep equipment, freeze-drier, packaging and shipping, all in one place. Here, we stay focused on quality and consistency in every batch, almost making food personally upon order.
Job Summary: The Production Development Lead will support recipe creation, re-formulation, rapid prototyping, and support positive interactions and relationships. This role is hands-on and plays an important part in product innovation and renovation to accomplish identified business objectives and consistently sustain growth for our company. A key delivery will be to help build upon consumer insights and be the face of our products in cross-functional settings with representatives from internal teams i.e. Marketing and Operations
In this role, you’ll handle various intermediate-term product developments and engineering processes for the business, as well as provide technical support to manufacturing operations. You’ll leverage your sharp science background and food formulation experience to be able to effectively qualify new raw materials and suppliers. You’ll identify and lead performance, waste reduction, and quality improvement projects to help us become and remain a leader on the shelf.
Duties and Responsibilities:
As a Product Development Lead, You Will
- Bring ideas to life for food and drink products as part of the Product Development group, you will work on and provide innovation in creating the flavors, shapes, textures, while fulfilling the nutritional requirements standards and so enjoyed by our customers
A week in the life of a Product Development Lead:
- Manage development, scale up and implementation of new and existing technologies to improve the performance of existing products and develop new products
- Lead new product development and continuous improvement of current products
- Serve as technical resource for marketing to develop a robust pipeline of product development opportunities, which includes developing technical project plans and timelines for all assigned projects
- Support product formulation including appropriate ingredient, nutritional, regulatory and analytical requirements
- Leverage technical experience to develop, implement, and execute creative product process development activities to achieve product goals and deadlines to deliver to consumer
- Establish production processes and teach others
- Manage database, record and enter log samples, formulation tracking, translating written requests into formulas and circulating documentation
- Act as ingredient lead for all assigned ingredients/raw materials, including qualification of new raw materials and suppliers
- Proactively monitor and provide product maintenance for assigned product responsibilities requiring standardized scientific procedures
- Explore innovative applications of product/process possibilities based on current state-of-art food technology
- Coordinate activities between internal and external customers for product development
- Maintain kitchen, product development lab areas to ensure Good Manufacturing Practices are upheld
- Perform kitchen and food prep to support product development and professional presentation to foster food safety, sanitation, and hygiene practices are continuously met
- Apply leadership, coaching, influencing to steer the project goals and deadlines
- Perform practical application of HACCP/Food Safety fundamentals, new materials onboarding, allergen claims validation, and process capability
- Scientifically develop drinks and foods using innovative techniques
- Perform other duties as assigned
Requirement and Competencies:
- Knowledge and practical application of Good Manufacturing Practices, food safety, sanitation i.e., HACCP, AIB, and or SQF
- Knowledge of health and safety regulations, and standards
- Knowledge of food safety, science in chemistry and or food and nutrition
- Knowledge of sanitation techniques and willingness to support in assigned areas
- Knowledge of analytics
- Knowledge of business acumen including an understanding where project work is occurring
- Project Management skills and capabilities
- Excellent skills in communication and interpersonal relationships including presentation, oral and written, strong networking and stakeholder management
- Proficient skills in Google docs, Gmail, Microsoft Office, Excel, and Microsoft Dynamics
- Proficient skills with data entry and management of databases
- Proven team management skills and project leadership
- Skills in changing and dynamic environments
- Skills in complaint reduction exercises to mitigate risks
- Skills in math, calculations, collect and manage data, interpret and present findings in meaningful ways
- Organizational skills and maintaining assigned kitchen area, equipment, tools, utensils, and laboratory
- Skills in interfacing with customers and internal teams
- Skills in being highly motivated, critical thinker, goal oriented and easily adapts to change and manages through ambiguity
- Ability to manage multiple projects, assignments, take directions, and to follow instructions
- Ability to work in a fast paced and high performing environment with autonomy
- Ability to understand of the consumer and to focus work with the consumer in mind
- Ability to anticipate and solve problems
- Ability to find cost saving measures
- Ability to work effectively under pressure, manage multiple priorities, and meet tight deadlines
- Ability to read and understand reporting data and how it relates to optimal performance for directives
- Ability to interface with all levels of the organization including executive leadership
- Ability to work as part of a team
- Ability to stand, walk, reach, twist, bend, stoop, squat, lift, climb, carry, push, and pull 50 pounds for the entire shift
- Ability to live PACK values
Education and Experience:
Bachelor’s degree in food science, nutrition, chemical or food engineering or related field
3+ years of product development, formulation, scale up experience, food lab, education equivalent or related experience