Senior R&D Manager
Calbee America, Inc., Madera, CA, United States
Position Summary
The Senior R&D Manager leads Calbee America’s innovation and product development strategy to support the company’s vision of delivering continuous newness and innovation to retail customers and consumers. This role is responsible for driving a disciplined and recurring product launch cycle, ensuring Sales and Marketing initiatives are aligned with a structured innovation pipeline and commercialization schedule. Serving as both a cross-functional leader and technical expert, this role manages the end-to-end product development process — from ideation through commercialization — in collaboration with Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Production, QA, Engineering, and Calbee Japan. The Senior R&D Manager ensures effective portfolio management, technical resource optimization, CAPEX alignment, and execution excellence while maintaining the highest standards in food safety, quality, and cost efficiency.
Key Responsibilities
Develop and manage a structured innovation pipeline aligned with business growth objectives.
Coordinate product launch schedules with Sales, Marketing, Production, and Supply Chain.
Lead projects from formulation through bench development, pilot trials, plant trials, and commercialization.
Manage multiple concurrent projects, controlling timelines, resources, and risk mitigation.
Develop prototype samples and oversee plant trial execution.
Evaluate new ingredients, packaging, processing technologies, and equipment to improve cost, efficiency, and food safety.
Monitor ingredient and packaging costs to identify optimization opportunities.
Partner with vendors and internal manufacturing teams to troubleshoot formulations and improve production efficiencies.
Maintain awareness of emerging industry trends, competitive activity, and technical innovations.
Collaborate with Calbee Japan on base product development and innovation initiatives.
Support R&D facility planning, equipment selection, and testing protocol development aligned with CAPEX plans.
Develop and maintain product specifications and required regulatory documentation.
Leadership & People Development
Directly supervise Shift Managers, Supervisors, Leads, and all Production and Warehouse employees.
Support hiring, staffing, and headcount planning in partnership with HR.
Set department goals and assist with individual performance planning and coaching.
Ensure employees are trained on SQF, food safety, and job responsibilities.
Foster a culture of safety, engagement, and continuous improvement through effective leadership and communication.
Participate in safety walks, committee meetings, and incident investigations.
Food Safety & Compliance Responsibilities
Ensure compliance with OSHA, EPA, FDA, HACCP, and SQF standards.
Partner with QA to ensure product specifications and food safety documentation meet regulatory and internal standards.
Participate in annual food safety system reviews.
Ensure team members are trained in applicable SQF and food safety requirements.
Conduct verification activities to ensure finished products meet quality and safety specifications.
Required Qualifications & Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related technical field required.
8+ years of progressive experience in food product development or R&D within a CPG or food manufacturing environment required.
Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional commercialization projects from concept through launch required.
Proven track record of successfully launching multiple new products in a manufacturing environment.
Strong formulation expertise; snack food or extruded product experience preferred.
Deep understanding of ingredient functionality, flavor systems, and processing technologies.
Experience conducting plant trials and scaling products from pilot to mass production.
Working knowledge of SQF, HACCP, FDA, and regulatory requirements.
Experience evaluating and implementing new processing equipment and supporting CAPEX initiatives preferred.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and cost-optimization capabilities.
Excellent project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Strong interpersonal, communication, and cross-functional leadership skills.
Ability to influence stakeholders across Sales, Marketing, Operations, and executive leadership.
High ethical standards and commitment to company policies and safety standards.
Calbee North America is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, age, sex, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, citizenship, ancestry, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or familial status or any other legally protected status.
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The Senior R&D Manager leads Calbee America’s innovation and product development strategy to support the company’s vision of delivering continuous newness and innovation to retail customers and consumers. This role is responsible for driving a disciplined and recurring product launch cycle, ensuring Sales and Marketing initiatives are aligned with a structured innovation pipeline and commercialization schedule. Serving as both a cross-functional leader and technical expert, this role manages the end-to-end product development process — from ideation through commercialization — in collaboration with Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Production, QA, Engineering, and Calbee Japan. The Senior R&D Manager ensures effective portfolio management, technical resource optimization, CAPEX alignment, and execution excellence while maintaining the highest standards in food safety, quality, and cost efficiency.
Key Responsibilities
Develop and manage a structured innovation pipeline aligned with business growth objectives.
Coordinate product launch schedules with Sales, Marketing, Production, and Supply Chain.
Lead projects from formulation through bench development, pilot trials, plant trials, and commercialization.
Manage multiple concurrent projects, controlling timelines, resources, and risk mitigation.
Develop prototype samples and oversee plant trial execution.
Evaluate new ingredients, packaging, processing technologies, and equipment to improve cost, efficiency, and food safety.
Monitor ingredient and packaging costs to identify optimization opportunities.
Partner with vendors and internal manufacturing teams to troubleshoot formulations and improve production efficiencies.
Maintain awareness of emerging industry trends, competitive activity, and technical innovations.
Collaborate with Calbee Japan on base product development and innovation initiatives.
Support R&D facility planning, equipment selection, and testing protocol development aligned with CAPEX plans.
Develop and maintain product specifications and required regulatory documentation.
Leadership & People Development
Directly supervise Shift Managers, Supervisors, Leads, and all Production and Warehouse employees.
Support hiring, staffing, and headcount planning in partnership with HR.
Set department goals and assist with individual performance planning and coaching.
Ensure employees are trained on SQF, food safety, and job responsibilities.
Foster a culture of safety, engagement, and continuous improvement through effective leadership and communication.
Participate in safety walks, committee meetings, and incident investigations.
Food Safety & Compliance Responsibilities
Ensure compliance with OSHA, EPA, FDA, HACCP, and SQF standards.
Partner with QA to ensure product specifications and food safety documentation meet regulatory and internal standards.
Participate in annual food safety system reviews.
Ensure team members are trained in applicable SQF and food safety requirements.
Conduct verification activities to ensure finished products meet quality and safety specifications.
Required Qualifications & Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related technical field required.
8+ years of progressive experience in food product development or R&D within a CPG or food manufacturing environment required.
Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional commercialization projects from concept through launch required.
Proven track record of successfully launching multiple new products in a manufacturing environment.
Strong formulation expertise; snack food or extruded product experience preferred.
Deep understanding of ingredient functionality, flavor systems, and processing technologies.
Experience conducting plant trials and scaling products from pilot to mass production.
Working knowledge of SQF, HACCP, FDA, and regulatory requirements.
Experience evaluating and implementing new processing equipment and supporting CAPEX initiatives preferred.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and cost-optimization capabilities.
Excellent project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Strong interpersonal, communication, and cross-functional leadership skills.
Ability to influence stakeholders across Sales, Marketing, Operations, and executive leadership.
High ethical standards and commitment to company policies and safety standards.
Calbee North America is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, age, sex, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, citizenship, ancestry, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or familial status or any other legally protected status.
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