JO 14645 Commercialization Manager R&D Projects

JO 14645 Commercialization Manager- R&D Process

Contract manufacturing, Primarily dry powder beverage drinks & nutritional sports drinks.

Industry leader in Fluid Bed Agglomeration and Particle Coating of powdered ingredients to the Food, Pharmaceutical, Health and Nutrition industries.

LOCATION: Minnesota

SALARY: Competitive base salary + 10% bonus

PURPOSE & SCOPE

This position plays a critical role within the development of new products, processes, and markets for the company. The Commercialization Manager is an integral part of the R&D group and plays a significant role in the entire commercial process from market and product development, through process development and scale-up, culmination with the handoff to the Operations group and the definition of the required customer service and support. This position takes part in all business segments including contract manufacturing, private label, and specialty ingredients, and is a critical technical and commercial resource in attaining company vision of offering technology based solutions and becoming a recognized l eader in powdered product innovation

SAFETY & FOOD EXPECTATIONS

1. Must maintain department safety rules compliance and be a positive safety role model.

2. Promote a culture of safety including training, work environment, safety programs and implementation of corrective actions.

3. Promote a culture of high food safety standards consistent with company management policy, its quality management system, and government mandated Food and Dietary Supplement cGMP

RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Lead commercial opportunities through the sales pipeline from a technical perspective as they move from qualified lead towards commercial manufacturing. This includes directing formulation development a nd optimization and bench-top effort, managing the pilot plant operation, and leading the plant scale-up effort in processing and packaging as project dictates.

2. Develop and implementation of product specification including raw material specification, WIP specification, and finished product specification in close cooperation with the Procurement and Operations groups and as dictated by customer requirement, company policy, and FDA regulations.

3. Support the sales team through the lead qualification effort providing technical considerations including product and application related information and resulting costing models.

4. Support company business development and marketing efforts through participation in tradeshows, industry symposiums, and customer on-site visits.

5. Liaise between the commercial team and the procurement group to identify opportunities for improved supplier management and improve product and formula performance

6. Manage external formulation group as needed to develop and optimize customer specific formulas and projects. On occasion there will be the need to independently develop and optimize these formulas

7. Facilitate understanding of the product process to the manufacturing plants through the development of standard operating procedures and quality control guidelines for new and current products.

8. Demonstrated ability to learn and communicate product information of technical as well as commercial nature to customers, sales force, and other contacts.

9. Ability to identify customer needs, challenges, and opportunities in order to develop viable solutions.

GENERAL EXPECTATIONS:

1. Must understand the company vision and set measurable goals that are consistent with company growth strategy

2. Develop good understanding of products, services, and manufacturing processes. Understand company value offering and competitive advantage.

3. Must be able to work with the sales team and customer technical resources to support product development effort and ensuing process optimization.

4. Drive, initiate, and support continuous improvement and elimination of waste and variation in processes using established improvement processes.

5. Document and monitor procedures and processes to eliminate variation and promote sharing of knowledge.

6. Learn, understand, train to, develop and follow documented policies, procedures, and work procedures and drive others to do so.

7. Ability to work extended hours, across various shifts, during plant trials.

8. All other duties as necessary to the success of the company

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:

1. Bachelors degree preferably in food science or chemistry from an accredited university/college

2. Solid background/work experience in process R&D in a manufacturing setting (5+ years).

3. Experience in food, dietary supplement, or a pharmaceutical setting is a significant plus.

4. Experience with powder formulation, processing, and handling is a significant plus

5. Solid understanding and implementation of world-class manufacturing practices including Lean, 5S, 6-Sigma

6. Knowledge of food and dietary supplement cGMP’s, SQF or ISO a plus

7. Proficient computer skills (Microsoft Office, ERP)

ATTRIBUTES:

1. Strong organizational skills

2. Positive attitude and professional image

3. Self-motivation and ability to work independently.

4. Sensitive to other cultures/backgrounds, able to work in a multi-cultural workplace

5. Ability and willingness to learn, understand, and follow documented work procedures

6. Demonstrated ability to function in a fast-paced environment with multiple simultaneous projects.

7. Ability to manage time and workload efficiently, and the ability to prioritize and modify priorities accordingly

8. Excellent verbal and written communication skills necessary to interface with customers and colleagues

9. Demonstrated ability to build positive relationships internally and externally with customers and suppliers

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

While performing the functions of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, stand, walk, talk, and hear. The employee is occasionally required to kneel, crouch, crawl, bend, ascend and descend stairs and/or ladders. The employee is frequently required to use hands and fingers to feel, handle, or operate objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms. The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Vision requirements include close vision, depth perception, color vision, and the ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment

This job is primarily performed in an office and plant-floor environment in a manufacturing location. The noise level in the office is generally moderate. There may be times when entering the manufacturing plant is necessary in which exposure to machine noise and food and dietary supplement dust is possible.

SUMMARY:

KEY/Desired “wants” for this position:

1.Highly reliable, dedicated, and experienced process R&D professional with a knack for powder handling preferably in agglomeration, granulation, spray drying, encapsulation, etc. Demonstrated hands on process development or process design experience, as a top concern is scale and volume of work … need someone who could jump into the process R&D side of things and take over some of these initiatives.

2.A passion for working with the operations group in a plant environment

3.Ability to learn new technologies for powder handling, quality control and methodology, and packaging

4.Attention to details

5.The ability to communicate with customers

6.Knowledge of food or nutrition applications, preferable in a segment that resonates well with our activities such as beverage, confectionary, bakery, etc.

7.Attention to details and ability to work in a team environment

8.Entrepreneurial and able to work independently and have a point of view on technology and application. Bottom line - someone that can satisfy points 1 & 2. If they also have some of the other elements from 3-8, this is a plus.

Please reply to Terri Sherman 920-261-8890

tsherman@tsloan.com