Product Development Project Coordinator

at  Ukrops Homestyle Foods

Generations of Richmond families have trusted the Ukrop’s name for fresh, wholesome foods, ready-to-heat meals, baked goods, cookies, cakes, and more. Our company produces a variety of freshly-prepared foods and premium baked goods for retail stores throughout the Richmond region, the Commonwealth of Virginia, other Mid-Atlantic states and beyond.
We’re proud that our products encourage families to gather around the table and are always looking for passionate and qualified associates. As an associate, of Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods (UHF), you may have a profound influence on those around you, those who supply and/or make purchases from our company, and those who enjoy our fresh and delicious products.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Product Development Project Coordinator is responsible for supporting and documenting product development projects at Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods’ Kitchen and Bakery. This role collaborates primarily with quality, regulatory, production and procurement at the Ukrop’s Homestyle Food’s support center, kitchen, and bakery production facilities. The PD Coordinator should be passionate about food, families and helping to continuously fulfill Ukrop’s brand promise of serving great-tasting fresh food to our customers and consumers.

MINIMUM PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

The physical demands of the position frequently include driving weekly to the kitchen and bakery that are within a 12-mile radius. Required to work in both a test kitchen and manufacturing (ambient and refrigerated) environment.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• High School Diploma or GED is required.
• A.S. or B.S. Food Science, Chemistry, Culinary or science related discipline is preferred.
• Minimum two (2) years in food product development or related work experience is preferred.
• Minimum two (2) years of experience working in Microsoft Outlook, Word, and advanced proficiency in Excel is required.

• Supports product development projects by capturing, analyzing, and interpreting data. Provides recommendations, as needed, to ensure success of projects.
• Participates in product development cuttings and cuttings focused on quality issues, documents, and investigates customer complaints.
• Coordinates production runs and helps to train associates on the production line.
• Engages in development process and communicating to cross functional teams to support launching new products and process changes.
• Attends cross functional meetings at key phases of development or maintenance projects.
• Coordinates shelf-life evaluation for both new and existing products.
• Assists with evaluating new and substitute raw materials.
• Tracks, communicates, and updates seasonal designs of bakery products internally as well as on customer facing kiosk.
• Coordinates samples for sales team by working directly with order center or production teams as necessary.
• Gathers and enters product information and photos into retail customer’s systems.
• Supports marketing team by coordinating eCommerce pictures and uploads photos to data pool partner.
• Captures cake builds, bake loss and other related data points to support annual regulatory and recipe verification.
• Assists in maintaining food labeling database and other proprietary software systems.
• Balances multiple projects while remaining organized and extremely detail oriented.
• Works independently and as a member of a team.
• Performs other related duties, special projects and functions as required from time to time. This may require schedule flexibility to accommodate bakery and kitchen production schedules.
• Supports GFSI and FSMA. Assists in ensuring that the SQF system is in place and that we are compliant with all aspects of HACCP plan, SSOPs, and GMPs throughout the plant. Reports all food safety issues to Technical Services and Plant leadership.
• Supports an accident-free work culture. When developing, or modifying processes, assists in accident prevention and risk identification. Collaborates with HR/Safety Manager to minimize risk exposure from ingredients, equipment, or ergonomics.