Technical Director – National Accounts

Lyons Magnus LLC•Walton, KY

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Lyons Magnus is a leading food manufacturing and ingredient solutions company specializing in the development and production of high-quality beverage, nutritional, and culinary products for foodservice, healthcare, hospitality, retail, and commercial markets. With extensive manufacturing capabilities and a focus on food safety, quality assurance, and operational excellence, Lyons Magnus produces a wide range of products including nutritional beverages, coffee and tea products, syrups, sauces, smoothie mixes, and custom ingredient solutions. The Technical Director – National Accounts is responsible for product development for assigned national customer accounts and independently manages multiple customer-driven projects, including new product development, product renovation, line extensions, and cost-savings initiatives, through development and customer approval. This role works directly with customers, project managers, and cross-functional teams throughout the development process. Following customer approval, the Technical Director partners with the Commercialization team to support scale-up and commercialization. The successful candidate will be an experienced product developer with strong technical and customer-facing skills who can effectively manage multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in food science, Food Technology, Dairy Science, Chemistry, or a related scientific discipline required.
Minimum of 10 years of progressive product development experience within the food and beverage industry.
Advanced knowledge of food science principles, product formulation, ingredient functionality and interactions, flavor systems, stabilization, food processing, sensory evaluation, and shelf-life.
Demonstrated ability to independently develop food and/or beverage products and apply sound scientific methods to experimental design, data analysis, troubleshooting, and technical decision-making.
Strong customer-facing, presentation, and communication skills with the ability to build effective technical relationships, understand customer needs, translate feedback into product development objectives, and communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences.
Strong sensory evaluation skills with the ability to assess products against customer expectations, product targets, and competitive benchmarks.
Strong project management and organizational skills with the ability to independently manage multiple complex projects, priorities, timelines, and deadlines.
Strong business acumen with the ability to balance customer expectations, technical requirements, cost considerations, and business needs throughout the development process.
Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, customer-driven environment while demonstrating ownership, accountability, responsiveness, attention to detail, and follow-through.
Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills with the ability to work effectively with R&D team members, cross-functional departments, suppliers, customers, and other external partners.
Self-motivated and adaptable, with the ability to operate with a high degree of independence while contributing effectively as part of a collaborative team.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and the ability to learn and effectively utilize company systems for product development, specifications, work orders, inventory management, and project documentation.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree preferred.
Experience with Foodservice and/or Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) product development strongly preferred.
Beverage product development experience strongly preferred.
Experience within or supporting the coffeehouse, café, specialty coffee, or specialty beverage industry is a plus, including experience with beverage development, ingredients, flavors, or preparation of coffee, espresso, and other handcrafted beverages.

Responsibilities

Independently manage multiple assigned product development projects for national customer accounts through formulation, product optimization, customer feedback and revisions, and customer approval.
Develop new and improved food and beverage products, including new product development, product renovation, line extensions, and cost-savings initiatives, that meet customer, sensory, manufacturing, quality, regulatory, cost, and business requirements.
Translate customer briefs, product targets, and feedback into technically feasible and commercially viable product solutions using sound food science principles and knowledge of ingredient functionality, flavor systems, stabilization, processing, and product quality.
Work directly with customers and project managers throughout the development process, including project discussions, sample reviews, product presentations, ideation sessions, technical discussions, and development updates.
Develop and present product prototypes, evaluate customer feedback, and effectively incorporate feedback into subsequent development work.
Execute benchtop development and submit formulas for pilot plant preparation; analyze results, troubleshoot product and processing challenges, and establish appropriate formulation and processing parameters.
Evaluate and select ingredients, flavors, raw materials, and technologies that meet product, customer, cost, and business requirements, working with suppliers as needed to identify appropriate technical solutions and opportunities.
Conduct and evaluate shelf-life studies for products under development to establish and verify that product requirements are maintained throughout the determined shelf life.
Partner with the Commercialization team and cross-functional departments, including Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Regulatory, Purchasing, Supply Chain, and Sales, to transition customer-approved products through scale-up and commercialization and provide technical support as needed.
Maintain accurate and complete formulas, development records, experimental results, trial documentation, customer feedback, and other required technical documentation.
Utilize company inventory management and work order systems to support project execution, including submission of new raw material documentation and development of finished product and processing specifications.
Collaborate with R&D team members, share technical knowledge, stay current on relevant ingredients, processing technologies, and industry trends, and support additional customer accounts and projects as business needs evolve.
Travel as needed for customer meetings, product presentations, supplier visits, plant trials, and other business needs.