Associate Director Product Development

Tyson Foods, Inc.•Springdale, AR

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Associate Director Product Development is responsible for leading a team of scientists in planning, developing, and executing projects within a business unit or across a business unit portfolio. This position will work closely with cross functional partners to identify and prioritize projects to identify new product development, quality improvements, cost optimization, and capacity utilization. This person will be accountable for team's execution of new product innovation, cost savings, and quality improvements. This person will assist in developing and building leadership talent and capabilities within their team. The Associate Director manages a team of highly technical scientists with the pursuit of applying technological innovation and leadership in product development, product specifications, scale-up capabilities and commercialization. The Associate Director is a member of the R&D leadership team, developing the departmental vision and creating solutions to technical hurdles.

Requirements

Bachelor’s, Master’s Degree, or significant amount of relevant experience in Food or Meat Science, Agriculture Business, Chemical Engineering or associated degrees.
10+ years of relevant and progressive experience
Strong critical thinking, analytical and problem-solving skills.
Time Management and results oriented is critical.
Skills in designing experiments to test hypotheses and optimize product formulations.
Understanding of food safety regulations and standards, such as FDA and USDA.
Product formulation across all protein groups.
Advanced in Microsoft Office applications, particularly in Excel, including advanced functions, pivot tables, and data visualization tools; like Power BI.
Basic knowledge of programming languages such as Python or software such as SPSS or SAS for data manipulation and analysis.
Strong communication skills to clearly articulate decisions, rationale, and expected outcomes to stakeholders.
Must have the ability to effectively communicate with all functional and management levels including senior leadership.
Must have a strong aptitude to work cross functionally and manage a large number of projects in a matrix organization.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills required.
Responsible for leading a work location or department that integrates related operations or services.
Assists with the development and implementation of strategy for an area of responsibility.

Nice To Haves

M.S. or PhD strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Collaborate and influence marketing, insights, sales, culinary, FSQA, operations and purchasing departments, coordinating with suppliers of ingredients, ensuring smooth start‐up for new product production processes
Modify or optimize existing products, developing specifications for product production labeling, and compiling cost analysis information.
Drives culture of providing technical support to project teams to solve manufacturing and production concerns. Acts as the subject matter expert in technical excellence for product development initiatives.
Supports current knowledge base on FDA/state regulations concerning ingredients and product standards of identity.
Implements methodologies to develop rapid design and prototyping & consumer-based product design.
Identify innovation that is treated as IP that can give Tyson a competitive edge in the industry.
Develop and maintain excellent working relationships with operations/divisional management and external customers. Manages research projects with suppliers and/or third-party organizations
Participate in cross-industry organizations, such as RMC, AMSA, IAFP, IPPE
Mentor, coach and lead a team of junior scientists. Champion continuous improvement and team development through a culture of scientific curiosity and excellence.