Vice President of Research and Development

• Brand new position for a ~$1.6B food company
• Lead R&D across 10 brands

About Our Client

Our client is a rapidly growing, private equity-backed company with a portfolio of well-known brands in the consumer packaged food sector. Focused on quality, value, and trusted familiarity, the organization operates across multiple food categories, serving both retail and foodservice channels. The company is driving sustainable growth through a combination of product innovation, disciplined cost management, and strong, strategic customer partnerships.

Job Description

A key mandate of this role is to design and scale a new pipeline of retort-processed products , acting as the architect for expansion into complex, shelf-stable meal solutions. The ideal candidate combines visionary innovation leadership with deep expertise in low-acid canned food (LACF) development and experience working with USDA meat products.

This individual will bridge R&D, marketing, and operations to deliver commercially viable, technically sound, and scalable product innovation.

This role reports directly to the Chief Commercial Officer and works closely with executive leadership and the company's ownership group.

Commercial Pipeline Alignment & Leadership

• Partner closely with commercial teams to translate consumer insights into scalable food innovation
• Lead and unify a decentralized R&D organization across multiple sites and functions
• Drive disciplined innovation processes to accelerate speed-to-market while maintaining margin integrity

Retort Pipeline Development & Commercialization

• Own end-to-end development of a pipeline of shelf-stable, retort-processed products
• Solve complex thermal processing challenges (starch stability, pasta integrity, emulsification)
• Establish best practices for processing parameters, packaging integrity, and heat penetration
• Serve as the primary liaison with Process Authorities for validation of thermal processes

Multi-Plant & Co-Manufacturer Management

• Lead technical transfers and commercialization across internal plants and external partners
• Evaluate and manage co-manufacturing relationships to expand capacity and flexibility
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives, including cost optimization and ingredient innovation

Technical Governance & Food Safety

• Ensure full compliance with FDA, USDA, and global food safety standards (SQF/BRC)
• Implement rigorous technical documentation across formulations, processes, and shelf-life validation

The Successful Applicant

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Engineering, or related discipline (advanced degree preferred)
• 12-15+ years of progressive R&D leadership within large-scale CPG environments ($500M+)
• Deep expertise in low-acid canned foods and advanced retort processing technologies
• Strong understanding of thermal processing principles and commercialization at scale
• Experience across multiple manufacturing platforms (frozen, dry blending, etc.) preferred
• Willingness to travel regularly to manufacturing and partner locations
• Commercially minded R&D leader with a strong focus on margin, scalability, and ROI
• Proven ability to align cross-functional teams, including operations, commercial, and external partners
• Strong communicator capable of driving an enterprise-wide innovation agenda

What's on Offer

• High-profile, newly created role: Step into a brand-new, visible leadership position with a mandate to shape the future of the function
• Executive-level exposure: Partner directly with the executive leadership team, influencing enterprise strategy and growth priorities
• Strong ownership backing: Join a business supported by a successful private equity sponsor with a clear investment thesis and growth agenda
• Platform-building opportunity: Play a key role in building and scaling a best-in-class organization within a high-growth CPG platform

Contact

Michael O'Connor

Quote job ref

JN-062026-7037577