ABOUT LA TOURANGELLE
La Tourangelle (la-tour-an-gel) is a family producer of high quality, delicious artisan oils and salad dressings that inspire people to cook, create and unleash their inner chef. Steeped in the oil making tradition of France’s Loire Valley, La Tourangelle’s purpose is artisanship and pursuit of exceptional taste with uncompromising nutritional benefits to improve the health, flavor and lives of our customers and our families. Our products are sold in over 20,000 stores in the US and Canada and include retailers such as Whole Foods Markets, Amazon.com, Albertsons/Safeway, and Kroger.
BEHAVIORS WE VALUE
- Take initiative
- Take ownership
- Be results-driven
- Be curious
- Stretch your limits
- Be collaborative
- Make decisions based on facts
- Show respect for all
- Face challenges with optimism
- Bring your authentic self
We’re seeking a food-loving and process-driven Director of R&D who enjoys connecting market opportunities with operational capabilities to expand our portfolio of artisanal, healthy products. This position is responsible for the cross-functional management of new product commercialization: researching, planning, coordinating, and scaling from conception to production while also overseeing process improvement. This is a hands-on, operations and project management focused position and a vital component to achieving our ambitious goals. The candidate most successful in this role will blend their entrepreneurial spirit and background bringing new products to market to drive new and innovative opportunities for our brand.
Reports To: President & CEO
Location: La Tourangelle Manufacturing Facility, Woodland, CA
RESPONSIBILITIES
Product Pipeline Development
- Technical lead for all innovation and new products. Apply your expertise and experience to manage the technical leadership and development of new products and processes from concept to commercialization.
- Partner closely with the Marketing team in the research of potential competition and new trends in the marketplace to identify opportunities for new products and new applications for current products.
- Collaborate with cross-functional leadership (CEO, sales, marketing) to develop new business opportunities and make assortment recommendations to achieve commercial strategies that drive revenue.
- Apply a keen understanding of manufacturing capabilities to identify new uses of current technology. Conduct manufacturing process reviews to determine efficacy of SOPs for new products and improvements to existing products
Project Management
- Own multiple food development projects, both new products and improvements of current products, simultaneously. Drive new projects forward to meet timelines while juggling multiple priorities. Partner with Operations management team to coordinate new project work.
- Deliver project success with the agreed upon metrics including cost, aesthetics, technical feasibility, commercial feasibility and consumer acceptance.
- Manage and identify external suppliers and comanufacturers who can provide added value and resources to new products.
- Deliver consistent communication to diverse sets of internal and external stakeholders on progress, challenges, and critical path changes in new product development.
- Demonstrate the ability to troubleshoot and resolve various project challenges with the support of cross-functional team members.
REQUIREMENTS
- 10+ years of hands-on experience in new food product/process development and successful commercialization of new food products.
- Bachelor’s Degree in Food Technology, Process Engineering, or equivalent with hands-on relevant food industry experience.
- Passion for creating new and exciting natural food products.
- A strong track record of owning projects from conception to completion with the ability to clearly articulate status and challenges as well as organize the priorities of multiple internal and external stakeholders (Project Management certification a plus).
- Proficiency in food equipment/process engineering, ingredient functionality as it relates to process interactions.
- Naturally curious, enjoys working in a fast-paced innovation-centric environment, has an ability to see opportunity where others might not. • A proven collaborator with the ability to effectively lead cross-functional teams.
- An established bias for action, with a can-do attitude and the ability to approach challenges with creative, solutionoriented thinking. Can challenge the status quo.
- Demonstrated leadership and interpersonal skills with strong verbal and written communication skills. A track record of beneficial negotiations while maintaining positive relationships.
- Experience managing external vendors with a strong network of industry contacts.
- Strong commercial acumen, technical development skills, judgment and understanding of the business and industry.
- Microsoft Office and PC skills
Please let them know you heard about it from Luke’s Circle