VP, Research & Innovation Processing, Digital & Governance

Vice President of Processing, Digital & Governance

The Vice President of Processing, Digital & Governance will lead the creation of this new organization ensuring best-in-class practices for translating benchtop prototypes to successful & efficient scale-up. They will also be accountable for creating and implementing the necessary processes, digitalization and governance frameworks and capabilities to ensure consistent high standards are implemented across the R&I organization for maximum impact on the business and our consumers. This role ensures that product/pack renovations, innovations and BCP/Productivity initiatives move seamlessly from concept to scale-up, balancing speed-to-market with operational excellence, compliance, and sustainability. This role will also be responsible for processing design for the future in partnership with the operations engineering team. The VP will partner closely within R&I and cross-functional teams—including Operations, Quality, Regulatory, and R&I category leaders—to deliver scalable, cost-effective, and compliant solutions that meet & exceed consumer expectations and business objectives.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and implement the technical commercialization strategy for products, packaging, and processes within R&I and for USA.
• Establish & implement governance frameworks in a simple manner to ensure consumer relevance, compliance, high standards, regulatory requirements, and sustainability goals.
• Drive alignment between R&I, Operations, and Commercial teams to deliver seamless delivery of renovation & innovation and optimize resource allocation.

Processing Design and Scale-Up Excellence

• Oversee scale-up activities from pilot to full production, ensuring technical feasibility, cost optimization, and quality standards.
• Ensure robustness in stage-gate process for product and process scale-up.
• Champion digital tools and advanced analytics to improve predictability and efficiency end-to-end from concept to scale-up.
• Ensure strong technical risk assessments are leveraged to create proper pilot plant and plant trials, risks, mitigation steps and measures of success.
• Develop new processing capabilities across the portfolio and maximize expertise to create a competitive advantage and cost advantage.
• Lead and deliver on the productivity targets and create a strong 3-year pipeline at least 150% of the target.

Governance & Compliance

• Lead governance committees to monitor adherence to R&I policies, regulatory standards, and risk management protocols.
• Ensure documentation and traceability for all technical commercialization activities.
• Drive continuous improvement in governance processes to enhance transparency and accountability.

Team Leadership & Development

• Build and lead a high-performing team of processing, digitalization, governance professionals within the team and across R&I.
• Share learnings and best practices globally, while leveraging best practices from other zones and externally.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and operational excellence within R&I.
• Mentor future leaders and ensure strong succession planning for critical roles.

The salary range for this position is $240,000-$345,000 USD. The exact salary offered will depend on several factors, including the candidate's relevant experience, geographic location, internal equity, and market conditions. Danone North America additionally offers a performance-based bonus and has a strong benefits package including Medical, Dental, Vision, Prescription Drug Coverage, 401k Plan, Wellness Program, Life Insurance, Tuition Reimbursement, Flexible Time Off, and Paid Parental Bonding Leave, among other benefit plan options. To give our employees flexibility, Danone is a hybrid work environment.

About You

Education: Advanced degree in Food Science, Engineering, or related field; MS/PhD preferred.

Experience:

• 15+ years in process engineering, end-to-end product and packaging R&I and experience in or with Operations within the food and beverage industry.
• Proven track record of leading large-scale industrialization projects and governance frameworks.
• Experience in global and matrixed organizations.

Skills:

• Exceptional experience in building strong cross-functional partners to deliver on consumer and business impact.
• Strong strategic thinking and execution capabilities.
• Expertise in process scale-up, commercialization, and compliance.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

Key Competencies

• Culture Creator
• Strategic Agility
• Operational Excellence
• Governance & Risk Management
• Collaborative Leadership
• Innovation Mindset

About Us, We offer and What's next

Life at Danone With approximately 5,000 employees and 13 production locations across the U.S., our vibrant culture and endless growth opportunities are just a couple of the reasons our employees call themselves "Proud Danoners." Learn more about Life at Danone Our Brands When you join us, you'll work with some of the best-known food and beverage brands in the world, including Activia®, DanActive®, Danimals®, Dannon®, evian®, Follow Your Heart®, Happy Family® Organics, International Delight®, Light + Fit®, Nutricia ®, Oikos®, Silk®, So Delicious® Dairy Free, STōK® Cold Brew Coffee ®, Too Good & Co™, and YoCrunch®. Our Purpose We're committed to making a positive impact on our world. Rooted in our mission to bring health through food to as many people as possible, we're proud to be the world's largest B Corp. Learn more about our mission. Our Benefits Our commitment to making the world healthier starts with our employees.

• Physical Wellbeing: We pay for the majority of your medical benefits – which include medical, dental and vision – with our competitive 80%/20% cost-sharing model.
• Mental Wellbeing: Danoners receive fitness discounts, unlimited flexible time off and hybrid work schedules. We also have a range of programs that support mental health and substance abuse.
• Financial Support: We offer a performance-based bonus, a 401(k) plan, tuition reimbursement, employee discount programs and voluntary perks.
• Family Care: We offer caretaker benefits, 18 weeks of parental bonding, fertility, surrogacy, adoption benefits and pet insurance.

Learn more about our benefits. Equal Opportunity Employer Danone North America is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. It is our policy to give equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to legally protected characteristics, or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state/provincial and/or local law. For our EEO policy statement and your EEO rights under law click here.