Product Development Specialist

Position Summary

The Product Development Specialist within the Technical Applications Group at Nestle Nutrition will support the total category encompassing products for infants, toddlers, and older children. This role will act as the technical lead to identify solutions, deliver innovation and renovation agenda, and drive optimization and improvement projects managing cost, quality and compliance. Additionally, they will represent the Technical Applications Group as the subject matter expert, ensuring effective knowledge transfer to the factories.

Responsibilities:

1. Implementation of Innovation & Renovation Strategy for the Supported Product Categories in the Market

• Lead product development activities from concept to commercialization to introduce new products and processes within factories, ensuring safety, stability, and legality.

• Act as the technical lead and apply leadership, coaching and influencing skills to steer the project on-time, on-budget, meeting key success criteria and consumer desire.

• Partner with R&D experts within Nestle to leverage innovative capabilities and drive product superiority.

1. Drive Continuous Improvement of Existing Products/Processes Enabling Local Business Need and Supply Demands:

• Lead technical projects utilizing product development expertise across manufacturing operations, raw material sourcing, quality improvements, cost savings, and compliance. Take ownership and lead those initiatives with good project management practices.

• Drive quality initiatives using Nestle systems for ingredient qualification, supplier onboarding, technical acceptance, and regulatory compliance. Lead recipe optimizations to enhance manufacturability while ensuring compliance.

• Apply advanced problem-solving skills and scientific knowledge to unlock operational excellence.

1. Ensure Adherence to All Product, Process and Material Standards

• Lead the onboarding, evaluation, and qualification of raw materials and suppliers, ensuring that they comply with Nestle Nutrition standards and meet the critical quality attributes of the finished product.

• Identify, influence, and lead the development of the product and process standards in compliance with Nestle requirements, external regulations, and industry benchmarks.

• Ensure adherence to all quality/compliance by design, technical acceptance, and mandatory release standards.

1. Provide First Line of Support to Factories:

• Provide subject matter expertise, especiallyin the areas of ingredients, recipes and processing to ensure consistent production of high-quality products.

• Optimize current products and processes in factories according to local needs. Lead technical projects to improve quality, compliance, and productivity. Manage timelines, address roadblocks, define critical paths, and identify resource constraints.

1. Continuous Improvement of Technical Skills and Personal Development

• Define, develop, and coach the competencies and training materials required for product/process mastership to enable manufacturing excellence.

• Acts as an ambassador for TAG when representing globally or externally.

Qualifications:

• BS or MS degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related field.

• Minimum of 2 years of experience in product development within the food and beverage industry.

• Experience in quality or manufacturing is preferred.

Skills:

• Must be capable of working in a fast-paced, team environment with minimal direct supervision and the ability to adhere to aggressive deadlines.

• Interpersonal communication skills, written and verbal communication, and organizational skills.

• Strong project management skills and ability to lead project teams, making effective use of everyone's time to achieve timely solutions.

• Creative/independent thinking, results-focused, and ability to impact & convince others.

• Administrative skills: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Globe SAP

• Travel Requirement: Approximately 25%, primarily within North America.

• Location: Office based role located in Fremont, Michigan.