Department : Research & Development

Location :   Nairobi

Salary :  Very competitive

Position Overview

Our client is a food manufacturing company and seeks to recruit a Research and Development Manager to support the day to day activities of the R&D department, while also participating in initiatives and projects from concept to commercialization. Responsibilities include development and management of project timelines and milestones in addition to executing prototype and scale up work. This position participates on product/project teams and conducts technical work within guidelines of project scope, budget and timelines.

Job Responsibilities

• Manage, communicate and reinforce organizational and departmental initiatives to the R&D department to ensure a consistent message and targeted objectives are achieved.
• Develops and executes R&D project timelines and deliverables.
• Creates new prototypes for R&D initiatives, including formulation, raw material sourcing, packaging development and costing.
• Designs and executes experiments to meet project objectives.
• Work with customers to deliver new products that meet customer needs in a cost-effective manner and with formulations that can be processed in the existing operation.
• Establish and leverage contacts and connections with existing and potential new customers in the food sectors for commercialization of new products.
• Monitors marketplace for new trends, products, and/or flavors and competitor products and development activities.
• Plans, coordinates and executes production tests to successfully meet project objectives.
• Accurately records, analyzes and reports data to meet project objectives.
• Packaging development.
• Develops product specifications and parameters for all new products (SOPs, HACCP plans, risk analysis and costings).
• Coordinates 3rd party laboratory testing and reports results.
• Conducts and analyses internal and external sensory evaluations.
• Manages R&D and sensory evaluation workspaces and R&D sample area.
• Contributes to development and management of R&D budget.
• Generates all finished product nutritional panel information and ingredient statements.
• Adheres to GMP’s, Standard Operating Procedures, and Safety Regulations consistently.
• Ensure compliance with plant safety standards and with applicable regulatory requirements while following the company’s Good Manufacturing Processes.

Qualifications

• BSc or MSc degree in Food Science, Food Technology or related field required.

Related Experience:

• Minimum 5 years' related work experience in product research and development
• Expertise in product development and new product innovation, with extensive Product Development/Food Science discipline

Prefered Skills

• Excellent knowledge of HACCP, ISO 22000 and its application in food industry
• Knowledge of KEBS, US FDA and UK FSA regulations for the development of product labels.
• Strong passion for food and the drive to develop this passion throughout the organization
• Customer focused expertise in the snacks and spices industry
• Knowledge of western and ethnic snack foods and spices and the application of spices in cooking essential
• Strong sensory evaluation and analysis skills
• Prior experience in facilitation of group training desired
• Strategic decision-making approach to business interests
• High collaboration and project management skills
• Strong judgment and decision making skills
• Highly organized with a strong focus on detail and accuracy with the ability to thrive in a complex, high demand, evolving environment, requiring quick responsiveness; must be able to handle multiple priorities while maintaining focus on the bottom line
• Must demonstrate a high degree of written and verbal skills and have excellent organization and presentation skills
• Work effectively as an individual with minimal supervision or as a team member as required
• Must possess a workable knowledge of MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel

If qualified send a detailed CV, stating your skills, experience and qualifications to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted.