Senior Manager, Snacks, Bakery & Confectionery Applications

About Ingredion:

Join Ingredion, where innovation impacts lives worldwide! Without even realizing it, you've experienced our work in your favorite chocolate, your pet's food, the paper you write on, and your everyday snacks. As a global powerhouse across more than 60 industries, we harness the potential of natural ingredients to transform lives. Whether you're just starting your career or bringing years of experience, there's a place for you here to make a real difference. Be part of our team that values a wide range of perspectives and is committed to shaping a better world with every product we create.

Location: Bridgewater, NJ

Workplace type: On-Site/Hybrid (4 days/week on-site & 1 day/week remote)

The Senior Manager, Snacks, Bakery and Confectionery is responsible for driving food product development and formulation expertise across multiple Snacks, Bakery and Confectionery sub-categories globally. They will provide technical category leadership for the development and commercialization of new ingredients and innovative formulation solutions across multiple geographies.


The Senior Manager will collaborate with our geography Customer Innovation leaders and customers to protect and grow our global Snacks, Bakery and Confectionery category business, providing leadership to translate customer insights and value propositions into technical solutions that meet consumer needs, promote health and sustainability, and support customer breakthroughs. You will be able to navigate ambiguity, working closely with global technical and commercial functions to identify and capture growth opportunities, creating end-to-end formulation technologies and ingredient solutions that maximize customer value.

The Sr. Manager will advance product development and applications excellence in the Snacks, Bakery and Confectionery categories, lead the creation of technology roadmaps at the sub-category level (including Sweet Biscuits, Bread, Bars, Extruded Snacks) grounded on a deep understanding of articulated and latent customer and consumer needs. You will collaborate with global technical teams to create, assess, and validate new formulations and innovative ingredient solutions for consumer-packaged goods, private label and foodservice customers. The candidate will lead, mentor and develop a team of scientists and create an environment that fosters innovation and promotes effective product development and food design from conceptualization to finished product scale-up for the Snacks, Bakery and Confectionery categories.

What You'll do:

• Build a deep understanding of Snacks, Bakery and Confectionery category consumer trends, customer problems and unmet needs through close cross-functional collaboration with category teams and global partners including Marketing and Insights.
• Create strong networks that promote collaboration among the global Snacks, Bakery and Confectionery community of expertise and build depth of the technical team.
• Translate voice of customer and key customer value propositions to technical solutions in collaboration with key stakeholders including sales, marketing, measurement science, and process innovation to make our customer's breakthroughs possible.
• Lead, grow, and create an environment to empower talented technical professionals through mentoring and meaningful career development planning. Identify gaps and develop new technical capabilities and expertise among the team.
• Develop and implement a 3-year technical strategy roadmap working with global teams to identify and bring new ingredients to market, formulating solutions for Snacks, Bakery and Confectionery applications.
• Provide Snacks, Bakery and Confectionery category thought leadership through a broad understanding of the categories and the current and future drivers, as well as the corresponding technical capabilities to deliver differentiated food products and customer value.
• Develop new Snacks, Bakery and Confectionery formulation concepts leveraging ingredients and processes which can be applied globally. Harness industry expertise to develop and commercialize new ingredients and technologies grounded on customer insights.
• Drive recognition of Ingredion's innovation capabilities at key industry engagements and establish thought leadership through industry innovation events and key industry organization meetings with customers globally.
• Champion and support Ingredion's Intellectual Property strategy and develop patent applications. Stay abreast of Snacks, Bakery and Confectionery formulation science technologies and category landscape (market trends, IP landscape, emerging technologies). Communicate to the organization threats and opportunities in the category.

What you will bring:

• Advanced degree (MS/PhD) in Food Science, Food Process Engineering, or closely related field with 12+ years of progressive experience in R&D with emphasis on food formulation/ product development and a passion for food science.
• Experience leading food R&D and product development teams.
• Demonstrated success in commercializing consumer-packaged goods from conceptualization and ingredient development to finished product scale-up.
• Demonstrated hands-on product development experience and knowledge in multiple Snacks, Bakery and Confectionery category application areas (Sweet Biscuits, Bread, Bars, Extruded Snacks, Jellies). Familiarity with manufacturing processes is highly desirable.
• Knowledge of starches, hydrocolloids and other texturizers, specialty sweeteners and plant-based protein ingredients in food applications.
• Proven ability to coach and expand team capabilities in innovation and new product development to deliver excellence in food formulation and applications.
• Excellent technical skills with the ability to act as the recognized technical lead and Snacks, Bakery and Confectionery category subject matter expert within the global innovation community.
• Ability to engage and build working relationships effectively with diverse stakeholders across functions and levels of the organization.

Who you Are:

• A communicator and influencer making the complex simple.
• Flexible and adaptable, comfortable leading multiple initiatives concurrently and delivering results in an ambiguous environment. Ability to proactively inspire change.
• Curiosity and creativite with a customer-focused, results-driven mindset.
• Analytical and a critical thinker with excellent business acumen and strong problem-solving skills.

Why Join Ingredion?

Discover why Ingredion is the ideal place to advance your career with our exceptional rewards and benefits package designed to help you thrive. Create the future with us and enjoy:

• Total Rewards Package - Competitive salary and performance-based pay recognizing your contributions to our success
• Comprehensive Benefits & Wellness Support - Health, long-term savings, and resources for your physical, mental, and emotional well-being
• Career Growth - Learning, training, and development opportunities, including tuition reimbursement
• Employee Recognition Program - A culture of real-time appreciation, with personalized recognition rewards globally
• Employee Discount Program - Provides exclusive discounts on everyday products, services, and travel

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We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. Ingredion seeks to provide a work environment that is free from harassment and discrimination. We will not tolerate any form of discrimination based on race, color, religion, age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, handicap or disability-mental or physical-marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability resulting from military service, or any other classification protected by law ("protected classifications"). We are committed to establishing and maintaining a work environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

Ingredion provides accommodations to job applicants with disabilities throughout the hiring process. If a job applicant requires an accommodation during the application process or through the selection process, we will work with the applicant to meet the job applicant's accommodation needs.

Ingredion uses AI-enabled tools to support parts of the recruitment process, including resume screening and interview scheduling. These tools help match candidate skills to job requirements and streamline communication. All AI-assisted decisions are reviewed by our Talent Acquisition team to ensure fairness and compliance with applicable laws. By applying, you acknowledge that AI may be used to support your application journey.

Relocation Available:
Yes, Within Country

Pay Range:
$149,400.00-$199,200.00 Annual

This pay range is not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Final base salary will be determined based on several factors which may include but are not limited to responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data and applicable bargaining agreement (if any).

Incentive Compensation:

As a part of the total compensation package, this role may be eligible for the Ingredion Annual Incentive Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus.

Benefits:

Full-time roles are eligible for our comprehensive benefits package which includes medical, dental and vision coverage as well as a 401(k) plan with an competitive company match.