Product Development Manager
SUGAR FOODS LLC Commerce, California, United States · $100K–$115K/yr
Food and Beverage Manufacturing · 1,001-5,000 employees
About the role
The Product Development Manager provides technical leadership and oversight for R&D projects, ensuring high-quality execution from formulation through commercialization. They are responsible for mentoring the development team and collaborating cross-functionally to align development priorities with business goals.
What they look for
Requirements
Candidates must have a Bachelor's degree in Food Science or a related field and 8-10 years of progressive experience in food product development. A proven track record in management, project leadership, and technical formulation within a manufacturing environment is required.
Full description
Job Description: Manager, Product Development Department: R&D – CO/Peachtree
Position Summary
The Product Development Manager provides technical leadership and oversight for product development activities within R&D. This role combines hands-on product development expertise with leadership and coaching to drive high-quality, efficient and scalable development work while strengthening technical rigor, critical thinking and accountability across the team.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide technical leadership and direction for product development activities across assigned projects. Lead and supervise Project Levels 1–2, with the ability to support select/lead Level 3 projects as needed
- Guide development approaches and decision-making to ensure sound technical judgment and execution discipline. Review and challenge formulation, process and scale-up work to improve quality and reduce downstream risk
- Coach and mentor product developers to strengthen capability, accountability and
critical-thinking skills. Remain hands-on as needed with formulation, trials, troubleshooting and commercialization support
- Ensure development decisions appropriately consider quality, cost, commercial feasibility and long-term business impact. Support continuous improvement and capability building within the R&D function
- Collaborate cross-functionally with Sales/Marketing, Operations, QA, Purchasing and Finance while leveraging external resources to determine development priorities
Qualifications Education
- BS in Food Science or a related field required, or equivalent experience. MS in Food Science desirable.
Experience
- 8–10 years of progressive experience in food product development or R&D within a food manufacturing environment, including a minimum of 5 years in a management or lead role
- Demonstrated experience leading or supervising product development projects from formulation through scale-up and commercialization
- Proven ability to manage multiple development projects simultaneously, providing timely technical direction and guidance across varying scopes and priorities
- Strong expertise in product formulation, process optimization, experimental design, and quality improvement. Experience evaluating technical tradeoffs related to quality, cost, manufacturing feasibility, and risk
- Prior experience providing technical guidance, mentoring, and leadership to product developers
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills
- Ability to effectively balance hands-on technical work with leadership and oversight responsibilities
