Research and Development Manager (Bakery)

Dessert Holdings is the leading premium dessert company in the world. We craft artisanal, scratch-made desserts at scale, combining culinary innovation with the finest real ingredients. With a rich heritage spanning seven distinctive brands, we bring unmatched expertise and tailored solutions to our Retail and Foodservice partners.

Dessert Holdings is looking for a Research & Development Manager in London, Ontario.  This individual will ensure new items are built and launched successfully, existing items are documented accurately and act as a liaison between Production, Sales, Finance, Quality Assurance, and Supply Chain. The R&D Manager will design and execute tests, analyze data, draw conclusions, communicate results, and commercialize products. As the onsite R&D lead, this Manager will drive technical projects to meet business initiatives focusing on new product development, quality and cost improvement.  

Key Responsibilities

• Provide project leadership in the development and commercialization of new products, product improvement, and cost savings.
• Work on multiple interdisciplinary projects, developing and implementing plans, identifying and organizing project team, coordinating resources to achieve goals, and leading all communication within the organization.
• Train and mentor R&D team in project planning and execution while overseeing projects.  Establish goals, appraise performance, recommend training, and provide input into final review for all direct reports.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams on implementing new products, new equipment, or new processes.
• Design and execute experiments, analyze, and interpret data to make sound technical recommendations for specific projects.
• Provide and communicate technical and business risk assessment and perspective.
• Develop process specifications, ensuring training and transfer of specification knowledge to QA and Operations.
• Support Operations and QA to resolve ingredient, formula, process issues and manage product/process changes.
• Provide formula and process specifications and on-floor support to ensure smooth rollouts of new products, equipment and/or processes.
• Support process design and review on new capability expansion, cost enhancement, and process improvement opportunities.

Qualifications:

• Degree in Food Science / Food Engineering with a strong functional Baking Science background
• At least 5 years of experience with bakery/food development/food manufacturing; Culinary degree or work experience is a plus
• At least 3 years in a supervisory or managerial capacity
• Experience with leading new products through concept, prototyping and commercialization within a manufacturing environment.
• Recipe / Formulation and raw material knowledge / experience.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Working knowledge of MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel), SharePoint, ERP systems
• Strong bench work skills with the ability to execute solutions rapidly
• Working knowledge of Canadian and US food standards and regulations
• Ability/willingness to work off hours or extended amounts of time during floor testing
• Ability/willingness to travel up to 30% of the time.

About Dessert Holdings

Dessert Holdings is a collection of premium dessert companies and brands:  The Original Cakerie, Lawler’s Desserts, Atlanta Cheesecake Company, Steven Charles, Dianne’s Fine Desserts, Kenny’s Great Pies, and Willamette Valley Pie Company.  Dessert Holdings is owned by Bain Capital, is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, employs more than 3,500 people across ten manufacturing facilities, and is continuing its journey of rapid growth.

EEO Statement

Dessert Holdings and its related entities provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or any other characteristics protected by law. 

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