Director of Color Innovation

Kalsec-posted 9 days ago

Full-time • Director

Kalamazoo, MI

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The Director of Color Innovation leads the Color Innovation Business Unit, introducing new ingredients, solving technical challenges, managing application objectives, and overseeing select customer projects. This role is responsible for driving strategy, fostering collaboration, developing scientific talent, and ensuring high-quality technical work throughout the unit.

Lead and develop strategies to execute and manage pipeline development projects and research initiatives.
Address industry challenges and enhance Kalsec®’s existing and new products.
Prepare comprehensive reports detailing research activities.
Present findings to scientific conferences, customers, Kalsec staff, and other relevant groups as appropriate.
Maintain awareness of emerging technologies and competitive products through trade shows, journals, patents, and participation in trade associations and conferences.
Strive for thought leadership within the field.
Responsible for hiring, developing, training, and performance management of R&D staff.
Manage employee engagement survey feedback and oversee scientists’ career development.
Work collaboratively with commercial Color Business Unit leaders to identify gaps and opportunities in the commercial color portfolio.
Initiate new ideas in Stage Gate®, allocate resources effectively, and instill urgency in project teams.
Coordinate with commercial leaders to ensure a seamless customer project selection process and appropriate resource allocation.
Support alignment in training tools and product/market positioning activities through collaboration with commercial Color Business Unit leaders.
Partner with Sales to efficiently execute customer projects, address customer needs, relay results, and gather feedback on progress and learnings.
Foster a productive and efficient environment for the Color Innovation R&D team, emphasizing sound scientific methodology and responsiveness to both internal and external customer needs.
Encourage staying current on Kalsec® technologies and external advancements, developing application-based skills, and presenting new concepts.
Champion color innovation by staying current on technologies, proposing new concepts, and promoting innovation both internally and externally.
Measure and monitor ROI related to laboratory efforts and the commercial success of development activities and customer projects.
Ensure R&D team members set appropriate specifications for new codes to meet high quality standards, facilitate manufacturing, and achieve high first pass quality rates.
Understand and advance the vision of becoming savory natural color experts by identifying and prioritizing technical gaps based on opportunity size.
Develop team capabilities to provide strong customer-facing technical support and versatility, with clear plans and timelines.
Monitor natural color innovation and regulatory changes, proposing new products and ideas for the portfolio.
Identify resource gaps in headcount or equipment necessary for mastery in the savory food sector.
Leverage the savory food landscape to propose demos and technical support activities, such as studies and white papers, to establish Kalsec’s thought leadership.
Understand and promote the unique selling propositions (USPs) of Kalsec products, driving further development and innovation, such as Durabrite.
Track and manage product renovations needed due to quality issues, customer complaints, new raw materials, or high-cost processing, assigning projects to address these concerns

Ph.D. in food science, chemistry, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and food industry experience in an R&D management role.
Minimum 5+ years managing R&D teams or departments
Experience with natural food colors

8–10+ years in product development or innovation roles
Direct experience with color pigments

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