Director, Disruptive Innovation (Cheese)

Leprino•Denver, CO

6d•Onsite

About The Position

Within our Corporate Cheese Research and Innovation team located in Denver – Leprino is seeking a Director, Disruptive Innovation to help shape the future of dairy manufacturing science and technology. This role focuses on non-traditional cheese-making innovation aimed at reducing manufacturing costs, improving ingredient functionality, and advancing process performance across large-scale dairy production systems. You’ll work alongside a highly technical team with deep expertise across cheese science, manufacturing, and process technology while helping identify and develop new approaches that challenge traditional industry methods. While the role partners closely with engineering and operations teams, the strongest candidates will bring deep technical knowledge of dairy science, particularly around dairy ingredient interactions, cheese functionality, and large-scale manufacturing systems.

Requirements

A Master’s degree in Dairy Science, Food Science, Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, Microbiology, Chemistry, or another closely related technical field.
12 years of senior-level technical experience within a large food or dairy manufacturing organization supporting process technology, manufacturing innovation, product functionality, or technical operations.
Experience supporting large-scale dairy, cheese, process cheese, aseptic dairy, butter, or related dairy manufacturing environments.
Experience leading technical innovation initiatives that involve cross-functional coordination across operations, engineering, quality, R&D, or manufacturing leadership teams.
Knowledge of dairy chemistry, dairy proteins, dairy carbohydrates, cheese manufacturing systems, process improvement methods, and food safety standards.
Experience evaluating or implementing new manufacturing technologies, ingredients, processing systems, or production methodologies.
A willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally up to approximately 40% of the time.

Nice To Haves

A Ph.D. in Dairy Science, Dairy Chemistry, Food Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related technical field.
15 years of technical leadership experience within a large-scale global dairy or food manufacturing organization.
Experience supporting pasta filata cheese manufacturing and continuous cheese-making systems.
Experience working with intellectual property strategy, external research partnerships, or technical innovation programs tied to food manufacturing.
Experience supporting international operations, acquisition integrations, or multi-region manufacturing environments.

Responsibilities

Build and advance new cheese manufacturing technologies that create long-term structural advantages in cost, throughput, ingredients, process capability, and capacity planning.
Research and evaluate emerging dairy processing methods, equipment, ingredients, and manufacturing approaches that are new to Leprino or entirely new to the industry.
Develop innovation strategies that support large-scale mozzarella and cheese manufacturing across a global production network.
Partner closely with operations, technical services, food safety, engineering, and R&D teams to move innovative concepts from early-stage evaluation into plant application.
Guide technical innovation initiatives tied to manufacturing efficiency, process performance, product functionality, and operational reliability.
Coordinate external partnerships with universities, research centers, equipment manufacturers, startups, and technical innovators across the dairy industry.
Support intellectual property development, open-source innovation reviews, and technical assessments tied to future manufacturing capabilities.
Lead cross-functional project teams focused on solving difficult manufacturing and processing challenges.
Review technical risks tied to regulatory requirements, food safety standards, and operational feasibility during innovation development activities.
Help shape long-range innovation priorities for Leprino’s cheese business through technical research, plant collaboration, and industry engagement.
Mentor scientists and technical professionals while building strong collaborative relationships across global teams.
Travel domestically and internationally to manufacturing facilities, technical partners, and innovation centers to evaluate emerging technologies and strengthen industry partnerships!