Director, Research & Development

Starkist Co. • Reston, VA

1d • $190,000 - $250,000 • Onsite

About The Position

This position is located in Reston, VA. This position is not remote work. US Citizenship or Green Card Holder - no sponsorship available. The purpose of this role is to lead the Research & Development Team, including Innovation & Product Development, Base Product & Process Development, Packaging Development, and Nutrition & Regulatory Affairs workstreams. The Director will partner with the plants on R&D initiatives and act as the liaison between non-technical and technical areas to develop and execute new and base product and process strategies to grow the business and enable cost savings. This role is responsible for communicating new and base business activities and strategies with non-technical areas such as Marketing & Innovation, Trade Marketing, Market Research, Finance, and Sales, as well as providing technical communication to areas such as QA, Operations, Packaging, and specific factory or co-manufacturing locations.

Requirements

• 20+ years of overall professional experience in various product and process development technologies and management, strong understanding of processing equipment and low acid thermal and retort processing.
• Strong understanding of federal regulations and nutritional labeling.
• Experience with new packaging development.
• 5-10 years of management experience leading a R&D/technical team in a position of similar complexity, scope, size and international impact.
• Experience in CPG/Food required.
• BS or MS and wide range of product and process development experience.
• Must be able to travel by plane - approximate travel 30%. (includes international, passport required)
• Must be capable of travel for extended periods (extended: 5-15 days)

Responsibilities

• Develop New Products & Innovation: Develop New Products or Next-Generation Innovation including the development of new product formulas and packaging (internally through R&D associates or externally working through consultants or suppliers) to deliver within agreed timeline, quality, and cost parameters. Work with internal or co-manufacturing locations on start-up and commercialization.
• Optimize Base Business Products & Process: Reformulate or restage base products or refine processes within agreed timeline, quality and cost parameters. Work directly with manufacturing locations for process improvements.
• Maintain and Optimize R&D Support Systems & Technical Services: Provide Technical Services and R&D Systems to optimize product development work stream and timelines, process systems, formula systems, ingredient specifications, nutritional labeling and ingredient statements that meet all departments expectations and deliver projects on time.
• Provide Packaging Engineering and Nutrition & Regulatory Services: Deliver Packaging and Nutrition & Regulatory Services to support Base Business & Innovation initiatives to maintain and grow the StarKist business.
• Co-Pack Management & Support: Oversee internal co-packing partnerships and third-party manufacturing relationships, ensuring product formulations, quality standards, and process specifications are consistently executed at co-packer facilities.
• Support plants with Quality, Operations, and Supply Chain teams, ensuring R&D specifications are accurately translated and maintained across all plants including contract manufacturing sites.
• Lead technical oversight of plant and co-packing relationships, including formulation transfer, scale-up trials, and troubleshooting to ensure new product development translates successfully from pilot to commercial production.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: Associate degree