Food Product Development Manager (Consumer Packaged Goods)

Job Duties

Description

Who We Are

Since 1955, we have been on a mission To Passionately Feed Millions Daily with High Quality Food People Enjoy! We are a third-generation family-owned and professionally managed organization with a commitment to strategic growth. We continue to be successful because of talented people, just like you, who choose to join our family and call E.A. Sween home. We pride ourselves on fostering a welcoming, respectful, and rewarding culture where employees are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work each and every day. At E.A. Sween, our team members are seen, heard, and appreciated not just for what they do, but for who they are. We hope you'll join us!

Compensation: The target salary for this position is $125,000 annually, consistent with our internal compensation framework. This position is classified as Grade 16, with a full pay range of $97,417.80 to $154,486.70. You are eligible for an incentive bonus up too 15% of your annual salary, prorated based on your start date. Final pay will be determined by your experience, skills, internal equity, and available budget.

What We're Seeking

We are seeking an Product Development Manager to lead product development for ready-to-eat food platforms, including sandwiches, wraps, handheld meals, and related prepared foods. This role combines hands-on development with team leadership to create products with consistent quality, consumer appeal, and clear business value. The Product Development Manager will lead culinary concept development, guide technical formulation, oversee bench and plant trials, and support commercialization from concept through launch. The ideal candidate brings strong product development experience, sound culinary judgment, food science capability, and proven people leadership.

What You'll Do (Responsibilities)

Lead Product Development and Commercialization

Lead new product development projects from concept through commercialization, ensuring products meet business, consumer, operational, and food safety requirements.

Direct the development of ready-to-eat sandwiches, wraps, handheld meals, deli products, sauces, spreads, proteins, bakery-based foods, and prepared food systems.

Manage product renovation, line extension, quality improvement, cost reduction, ingredient substitution, and productivity initiatives across the product portfolio.

Lead bench development, culinary gold-standard creation, plant trials, first-production runs, and post-launch product evaluations.

Design and execute experiments, analyze data, draw conclusions, and make sound technical recommendations to support product and process decisions.

Develop and approve formulas, processing instructions, product specifications, trial reports, test data, and commercialization documents.

Apply food science principles related to flavor, texture, moisture migration, water activity, pH, emulsions, thermal processing, shelf life, and food safety.

Manage multiple technical projects with defined timelines, risk assessments, action plans, stakeholder alignment and consistent communication.

Apply culinary expertise to product design, flavor development, ingredient selection, sensory strategy, and overall eating experience.

Present product concepts, prototypes, technical updates, and recommendations to cross-functional leaders, customers, and key stakeholders

Serve as a technical subject matter expert in customer meetings, product presentations, commercialization reviews, and internal decision-making forums.

Lead People and Build Organizational Capability

Lead and develop a high-performing R&D team grounded in accountability, curiosity, collaboration, food safety, and continuous improvement.

Strengthen culinary, technical, and commercialization capability across the R&D function through coaching, training, and clear performance expectations.

Establish clear priorities, assign project responsibilities, review technical work, and ensure the team delivers against business, customer, and commercialization objectives.

Manage, coach, and develop R&D scientists, technologists, technicians, and other team members to improve performance, engagement, and technical depth.

Monitor industry trends, culinary trends, ingredient innovation, competitive activity, processing technologies, packaging formats, and evolving consumer needs.

Identify product opportunities that deliver differentiated, craveable, portable, and commercially viable solutions for the RTE food category.

Support innovation pipelines, customer-specific development, platform expansion, and long-term product strategy through disciplined technical leadership.

Improve R&D systems, documentation standards, trial planning, sensory practices, and commercialization processes to increase speed, consistency, and execution quality.

Influence cross-functional teams and guide business decisions using data, sensory insights, technical expertise, food safety requirements, and commercial priorities.

What You'll Need (Qualifications)

Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Culinary Science, Culinology, Food Engineering or a related discipline.

7 or more years of product development experience within the food industry.

Strong culinary capability with a practical understanding of commercial food production, manufacturing constraints, and cost targets.

Demonstrated experience developing ready-to-eat foods, prepared meals, sandwiches, wraps, bakery-based products, meat systems, cheese applications, sauces, spreads, or related CPG food products.

Experience leading products from concept, bench development, prototype creation, plant trials, and commercialization.

Strong technical knowledge of ingredient functionality, formulation, food safety, shelf life, sensory evaluation, and manufacturing scale-up.

Experience managing direct reports, including performance management, coaching, and development.

Preferred Qualifications (if applicable)

Master's degree in Food Science, Culinary Science, or related technical field.

Culinary degree, professional kitchen experience, or applied culinary product development experience.

Experience with chilled, refrigerated, MAP, and shelf-life-sensitive food products.

Experience with consumer research, sensory methods, DOE, statistical analysis, and data-based product optimization.

Knowledge of PLM, ERP, formulation systems, specification systems, Microsoft Office, and project management tools.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

This role works in office, laboratory, and production environments.

Regular work in chilled production areas around 50F may be required.

The role requires frequent tasting and sensory evaluation of food products.

Occasional lifting or moving of ingredients, samples, or supplies up to 25 to 50 pounds may be required.

Some off-hour work may occur during plant trials, start-ups, commercialization runs, or customer deadlines.

Travel up to 25 percent may be required based on business needs.

How You'll Find Success at EAS

Value People Most of All: Show respect & care, embrace diversity, and empower others.

Commit to Safety Everyday: See something say something do something, practice safe behavior, and celebrate safety success.

Invest in Our Company to Thrive: Share ideas to improve, learn & grow, and embrace change.

Think Before Doing And Act Decisively: Make thoughtful decisions, work together to find solutions, and do what's right.

Welcome Constructive Straight Talk: Be honest and respectful even when difficult, be open to ideas and feedback, and ask questions to understand.

Serve Up Exceptional Experiences: Provide value to customers, take pride in your work, and help others to be successful.

Enjoy What You Do!: Have a positive attitude, Live the Spirit of E.A. Sween, and celebrate success.

E.A. Sween is proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the health, financial security, and well-being of our team members. Benefits include:

Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance

Paid Time Off (PTO)

8 Paid Holidays

Company-Paid Life Insurance

401(k) with Company Match - fully vested after 2 years

Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Plans

Tuition Reimbursement

Employee Recognition Program (Boss Bucks)

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.

For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.

E.A. Sween Company is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer/M/F/Veteran/Disability

Minimum Education Required

Bachelor Degree

Minimum Experience Required

7 - 20 years

Shift

First (Day)

Number of Openings

1

Public Transportation Accessible

Yes

Veterans Encouraged to Apply

No

Physical Required

Yes

Drug Test Required

Yes

Compensation

$11.41 / Hourly

Postal Code

55344

Job Type

Full Time

Place of Work

On-site

Requisition ID

PRODU006680

Job Benefits

Not specified