Senior Manager, R&D – Tortilla

The Senior Manager of R&D – Tortilla oversees daily operations of the tortilla product development team, ensuring projects, documentation, and specifications are completed accurately and on schedule. While the primary responsibility is leading people and managing project flow, the role also includes hands-on involvement in key initiatives when needed.

Acting as the primary technical and project contact for internal and external stakeholders, this position partners closely with Sales, Category, and R&D leadership to align objectives, communicate progress, and support strategic initiatives. The Senior Manager also provides technical expertise through plant trials, process evaluations, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement efforts. Collaboration with suppliers is essential to advance formulations, processing technologies, quality attributes, and specification development.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead a team of scientists, providing technical guidance, making critical decisions, and influencing cross-functional partners on feasibility, project direction, and execution.

• Drive new product and process development initiatives from concept through commercialization.

• Provide leadership and technical expertise across multiple complex projects, offering innovative solutions to support growth and product advancement.

• Evaluate new project requests and assign responsibilities according to team capabilities, workload, and timelines; coordinate with other R&D leaders to balance resources.

• Track progress of all team projects and ensure accurate, timely documentation across internal systems.

• Serve as a primary communication link among R&D, Sales, Marketing/Category, and other stakeholders.

• Hold regular team and individual check-ins to assess status, address challenges, provide feedback, and set next steps.

• Develop and implement professional development plans, fostering skill growth aligned with a high-performance team culture.

• Build strong cross-functional partnerships with Sales, Marketing/Category, Operations, Quality, and Purchasing to support successful project outcomes.

• Participate in customer-facing planning sessions to identify opportunities, assess feasibility, and lead follow-through.

• Contribute to formulation development, processing design, and specification requirements to ensure manufacturability and quality.

• Provide technical leadership to optimize existing products from bench top through commercialization.

• Conduct performance evaluations consistent with organizational guidelines.

• Perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Job Requirements

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Baking Science, or a related technical field (advanced degree preferred).

• Minimum 10 years of R&D and/or Technical Services experience in food manufacturing, with strong exposure to commercial tortilla products.

• Proven leadership experience managing technical teams, including coaching, workload planning, and performance management.

• Demonstrated success in managing product development projects from concept through launch.

• Experience working closely with customers, suppliers, co-manufacturers, or assemblers to develop and commercialize new products.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and related software tools.

• Strong understanding of scientific principles related to food product development.

• Broad knowledge of food ingredients; expertise in grain-based foods strongly preferred.

• Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to support plant teams in identifying and resolving technical issues.

• Familiarity with food manufacturing environments, ideally with significant tortilla-processing experience.

• Strong awareness of emerging trends in food science, ingredient technology, and consumer preferences.

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.

• Strong presentation skills with experience representing R&D to customers or industry groups.

• Working knowledge of GMPs and relevant industry standards.

• Ability to manage complex, concurrent projects and competing timelines.

• Ability to train and transfer knowledge to Operations and QA.

• Ability to work independently and collaboratively across teams.

• Strong organizational, delegation, and priority-setting skills.

• Ability to work effectively with customers and suppliers to navigate expectations and development processes.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Manage multiple direct reports, including Managers, Scientists, and Coordinators.

• Oversee performance, staffing decisions, and alignment of responsibilities.

• Develop functional roles and expectations for direct reports, ensuring high-quality output and professional growth.

Working Conditions

• Primarily office-based with regular time spent in manufacturing environments, which may include exposure to noise, odors, dust, uneven lighting, and various environmental conditions.

• Occasional lifting up to 15 pounds.

• Travel required up to approximately 50%, depending on project and business needs.