Sr Manager R&D, Product Innovation (On-Site)
Company: Ardent Mills
Location: Denver
Posted on: April 16, 2024
Job Description:
Sr. Manager R&D, Product InnovationLocation:Ardent Mills
Headquarters, Denver COYour RoleSenior Manager R&D of Product
Innovation is responsible to deliver and lead proactive R&D
team in developing customer centric winning products pipeline and
meet product innovation growth objectives. In close partnership
with Product Marketing, and Data & Insights teams, the Sr. Manager
plays a pivotal role in identifying new opportunities, fostering a
culture of creativity, and managing projects to bring leading-edge
products and technologies to fruition. Additionally, the Sr.
Manager will identify opportunities for growth and improvement and
provide leadership guidance to ensure that team members are
motivated and productive.The role will collaborate closely with
technical (e.g., Ingredient Research, Quality, Food Safety &
Regulatory, Technical Services) and commercial stakeholders (e.g.,
Sales, Emerging Nutrition, Strategic Pricing, Legal, Operations,
Supply Chain) to support operational excellence in scaling product
launches across both internal and external manufacturing
facilities. The Sr. Manager will focus on long-term success of the
team and its projects, establishing team goals, monitoring progress
of each project, and provided technical expertise to ensure that
each project is delivered in compliance with company and regulatory
standards.As a leader and people manager, the Ardent Mills Values
of trust, serving, simplicity, and safety will guide your
decisions. You will listen, learn, and serve your team members. You
will enable your team to deliver superior business results by
constantly learning, reinventing, and challenging yourself to do
better. You will inspire people to achieve things they never
thought possible.To succeed, you must be able to:
- Deliver results in first-time situations by inspiring others
and working to earn trust every day.
- Serve others with understanding, respect, and care.
- Operate with simplicity, clarity, and transparency.
- Deal with and drive change.
- Organize, prioritize, and own multiple assignments while
meeting or exceeding deadlines.
- Learn and apply new technology and share your knowledge with
others.Above all you will be expected to carry out all your
activities with reliability, integrity, compliance and in a safe,
environmentally responsible, and efficient manner.Your
Responsibilities
- In collaboration with the Product Marketing, Data & Insights
teams and other internal stakeholders, drive Ardent Mills' 5-year
Product Innovation Strategy, build and refresh product innovation
funnel.
- Serve as the technical lead, and coach team members who serve
as technical lead executing projects through the Stage-Gate
process. Collaborate with the Product Innovation Project Management
team to ensure New Product Development projects are completed on
time and meet go-to-market goals (e.g., cost, sensory targets,
feasibility, quality, product training, and customer
engagements).
- Foster a culture of excellence and high-performance by
encouraging an organizational culture that supports psychological
safety, exploration, agility, collaboration, and risk-taking.
- As a champion of people leadership, motivate, equip, guide, and
empower your team to achieve their full potential and meet the
organization's objectives.
- Lead strategic resource allocation discussions with business
stakeholders to align on the prioritization of pipeline activities
and effectively allocate resources based on our 5-year growth
strategy.
- Develop strategic partnerships both internally and externally
to enhance our capacity, capabilities, and speed in solution
development.
- Collaborate with R&D peers to build capabilities and tools
to create new and improve existing products across businesses and
portfolios.
- Manage and track a diverse portfolio of projects, leading team
members through tasks and influencing cross-functional teams to
ensure timely stage gate progression and delivery of new
launches.
- Partner with HR Business Partner to provide strategic
leadership related to talent development. Attract, lead, manage,
and mentor employees to ensure retention, development, and high
performance of talent and contribute to the organization's
strategic objectives.
- Collaborate with legal teams to ensure proper documentation and
safeguarding of proprietary information.
- Facilitate open communication and brainstorming sessions to
encourage a collaborative and creative environment, generate
innovative ideas and concepts, and implement change management
strategies.
- Conduct thorough research and feasibility studies to assess the
potential of proposed ideas, anticipating internal and/or external
organizational challenges and/or regulatory issues.
- Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the
success of R&D innovation initiatives.
- Regularly assess the performance of projects, teams, and
individual contributors to identify areas for improvement and
allocate resources effectively.
- Monitor industry developments and competitor activities to
identify potential risks associated with R&D projects,
implementing mitigation strategies to minimize negative
impact.
- Provide strategic technical leadership to cross-functional
partners to deliver AOP and Ardent Mills strategic objectives.
- Proactively advocate for the goodness of grains and plant-based
ingredients, present in technical forums, represent Ardent Mills in
professional and scientific organizations, and actively cultivate a
broad network of contacts both within and outside the organization
to support the existing and future ingredient pipeline.Essential
Skills & Experience
- Bachelor's degree and higher in Food Science or closely related
discipline and 9+ years additional industry experience developing
and commercializing food products/ingredients solutions for
customers. Including, 3+ years of people management
experience.
- Expertise in one or more of the following ingredient
categories: Cereal grains, ancient grains, and alternative grains
and pulses
- Significant experience in formulation and processing of
multiple of the following applications:baked goods, flatbreads and
tortillas, snacks and crackers, pet food and treats, beverages, and
plant-based product alternatives.
- Strong product innovation experience from concept development
to product launch and production scale up.
- Experience in successfully managing multiple projects and
deadlines within a matrixed organization with strict attention to
detail and prioritization.
- Highly motivated, high integrity, self-starter with
demonstrated ability to work effectively both independently and as
part of cross-functional teams.
- Proven ability to build solid relationships, earn the
confidence of internal stakeholders and demonstrate the ability to
get results in timely manner with attention to timelines and
deadlines.
- Proven success in managing and mentoring direct reports and
working with cross-functional teams and initiatives
- Must be flexible, organized, and able to influence,
collaborate, execute multiple complex and handle changing
priorities.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills. Strong
presentation abilities with all audiences and levels of
management.Physical Requirements and Working Conditions (with or
without reasonable accommodation) Other Considerations
- Able to lift to 25 lbs. and work near extreme temperatures
(typical of kitchen, R&D lab environments, and food service
operations environment).
- Able to work with and consume wheat products, i.e., no wheat
/gluten sensitivity, intolerance and/or allergies.Other
Considerations
- Ability to travel up to 25+% for business.
- Ardent Mills is headquartered in Denver, CO. This traditional
role is based at the Denver Headquarters location and will require
4-5 days per week onsite.At Ardent Mills, everyone matters, and
everyone has a voice. We are committed to providing an environment
of mutual respect where equal opportunities are available to all
applicants and team members and the decisions will be based on
merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We are proud to
be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on
race, color, religion, creed, national origin, aboriginality,
ancestry, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity
or expression, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, genetic
information, veteran status, age, political affiliation, or any
other non-merit characteristic protected by law or not. Together,
celebrating our differences, we make Ardent Mills.The preceding
position description has been designed to indicate the general
nature and essential duties and responsibilities of work performed
by employees within this position. It may not contain a
comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and
qualifications required of employees in this position. The
description, duties, functions, and responsibilities are subject to
change at the discretion of Ardent Mills.Location:Denver Office
COAddress:1875 Lawrence Street, Denver CO, 80202Additional
Locations (if applicable):Employment Type:Full timeLocation:Denver
COAddress:1875 Lawrence Street, Denver CO, 80202Additional
Locations (if applicable):Employment Type:Full timeAdditional
Information:COMPETITIVE COMPENSATION:We provide market-driven base
pay, based on skills, abilities, and level of experiences. Our
salary ranges are broad, and individual salary will be market
competitive based on a candidate's unique set of skills and level
of experience. The starting range for this position is $113,500.00
- $151,407.30, with additional earning potential possible
commensurate with experience. Additionally, we believe that our
team members are the reason for our success and all team members
are incentive eligible with a target based on contribution, company
performance, and individual results achieved. While the specific
bonus plan and target amount will be determined based on the role
and breadth of contributions, the targeted bonus plan and targeted
percentage amount for this role is Bonus - MIP, 15% Annual:
Individual Target.BENEFITS:At Ardent Mills we offer a wide range of
benefits to our team members and their eligible family members.
Some of our great benefit programs you may be eligible for include:
* Medical, Dental and Vision Coverage* Health and Dependent Savings
Accounts * Life and Disability Programs * Voluntary Benefit
Programs * Company Sponsored Wellness Programs * Retirement Savings
with Company Match * Team Member and Family Assistance Program
(EAP) * Paid Time Off and Paid Holidays * Employee Recognition
Program with Rewards (RAVE).EEO Commitment:At Ardent Mills,
everyone matters and everyone has a voice. We are committed to
providing an environment of mutual respect where equal
opportunities are available to all applicants and team members and
the decisions will be based on merit, competence, performance, and
business needs. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion,
creed, national origin, ancestry, marital status, sex, sexual
orientation, gender identity or expression, physical or mental
disability, pregnancy, genetic information, veteran status, age,
political affiliation, or any other non-merit characteristic
protected by law or not. Together, celebrating our differences, we
make Ardent Mills.The preceding position description has been
designed to indicate the general nature and essential duties and
responsibilities of work performed by employees within this
position. It may not contain a comprehensive inventory of all
duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees
in this position. The description, duties, functions, and
responsibilities are subject to change at the discretion of Ardent
Mills.
Keywords: Ardent Mills, Commerce City , Sr Manager R&D, Product Innovation (On-Site), Executive , Denver, Colorado
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