Technical Director, Sme Dairy Beverage

General Purpose:

Subject matter expert responsible for the development of dry dairy beverage systems for RTD beverage mixes and for further processing (aseptic, ESL, retort, and HTST) from concept/opportunity through commercialization (at the customer). This person will be relied upon as an expert related to dairy beverages including dairy science research, innovation, development, applications; relating to new product/solution development; but also, for formulation cost-out opportunities. Key driver of organic growth through monetization of the opportunity and innovation pipeline.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

Specific to Strategy:

• Research dairy science, food science and equipment for the purpose of innovating new technologies and the development of intellectual property (IP) for DFA
• Support sales in determining customer needs, problems, insights, and strategy that would ultimately require a DFA solution
• Effectively operate all pilot plant equipment, including spray dryers, dry blending, microthermics, retort
• Drive opportunities to commercialization internally and close with the customer
• Collaborate with and influence technical sales, customer support and other stakeholders to “solve for yes”
• Inspire and excite customers through demonstration of unique new products and applications that are relevant to their consumers
• The requirements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employee, but is not a complete list of responsibilities, duties, and skills required. Other duties may be assigned as required
• Demonstrate a “never stop learning” mindset and influence others to adopt this mindset
• Reformulate products as appropriate to reduce cost
• Partner with sales to understand customer’s future needs, their brands, and strategies to anticipate new areas of capability development and innovative ideas for end use categories
• Perform pilot plant testing to ensure a successful scale-up for DFA manufacturing and ultimately the end customer
• Develop new wet and dry dairy systems and solutions using DFA’s plethora of ingredient options and manufacturing capabilities
• Develop effective concepts for benchtop sessions, in partnership with sales, to generate wins with customers
• Co-create and effectively utilize the product lifecycle management (PLM) process and adhere to the Scientific Development Standards Process, including version control, development notes and documented learnings
• Provide effective, timely and relevant reporting to leadership
• Provide technical and applications expertise to support the customer
• Contribute to technical content and review presentations for sales and marketing
• Support the customer in scale up and commercialization to ensure DFA people and products are part of the scale up and launch
• Perform applications testing simulating the customer’s end use to ensure the products developed exceed the customer’s expectations for taste, functionality, and nutrition
• Drive the commercialization of new products by partnering with the process technology team in the plants
• Proactively initiate action plans to develop the solutions and capabilities
• Apply strong knowledge of the DFA’s capabilities – including understanding the functional and technical aspects of the products and how DFA’s capabilities differentiate us from others in the industry
• Utilize sensory science tools, available in the Innovation Center, to give data points to the customer demonstrating expectations are met/exceeded
• Effectively utilize CRM (Salesforce.com) as a tool to manage status of the opportunities, project milestones in the pipeline and track KPIs related to the opportunity pipeline continually improving our R&D service to customers, ultimately leading to faster speed-to-market driving increased customer connectivity.

Minimum Requirements:

Education And Experience

• 10+ years of experience in R&D
• Proven successful track record in new product development with multiple examples of commercialized products/solutions directly or under your leadership
• Desired areas of expertise:
• Drying (spray drying, fluid bed, etc.)
• Proven career advancement in food ingredients and products
• Dairy science
• Dry beverage & nutritional bases/blends
• Aseptic, ESL, Retort, and HTST processing
• RTD beverage mixes
• Understand the formulation and application of stabilizer and emulsifier blends (formulate if needed).
• Masters or PHD desirable
• B.S. Degree in a biological science related discipline
• Demonstrated staff leadership attributes or staff management experience
• Agglomeration and instantization of powders

Knowledge, Skills And Abilities

• Food safety programs and food safety by design
• Strong leadership abilities
• Ability to initiate and adapt to change
• Must have the ability and capability to interact and communicate with the most senior levels of the organization
• Food regulatory & labeling laws including both: USDA & FDA
• Ability to balance heavy workload and manage multiple tasks
• Able to read, write, and speak English
• Ability to solve complex customer demands and problems
• Self-driven and committed to hands on work habits
• Exceptional communication skills

Travel:

☒15%-25% (1-2 times per quarter)

An Equal Opportunity Employer