Product Development & Support Manager

at  Vandemoortele

SHARE OUR TASTE FOR LIFE!

Together with you, we want to empower you to achieve this mission. We value you as a person and actively support you on your professional journey, while caring for your future. Join our big little family and let’s make products for you and the world to love. Do you share our taste for life?
To strengthen our R&D Team, we are currently looking for an enthusiastic Product Development & Support Manager.

ARE YOU THE ONE WE’RE LOOKING FOR?

• You hold a master’s degree in engineering (Bio-engineering, industrial engineering, etc.) or equal by experience.
• A first experience within R&D is considered a plus but not a must.
• Above all you are ambitious, energetic, driven and open to receive and give challenges. Your drive and enthusiasm will motivate you to go the extra mile in engaging others.
• As a food Lover, you are passionate by food.
• Your excellent communication and persuasion skills enable you to motivate, drive and engage your internal (R&D, production, purchase, logistics, master data,…) and external stakeholders.
• You are proactive and you are a driver for change. At the same time, you are pragmatic, problem-solving and looking for initiative.
• You are able to work together on major projects and you like to take ownership.
• You have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal, in English, Dutch is considered an asset.

As Project Leader for Product Developments you:

Develop new products. These projects can be customer demands (re-active), innovations (pro-active) or cost/quality upgrades.

• Are responsible for the overall coordination and planning of your projects. This implies guiding a functional team (R&D, marketing, commercials, customers, production…).
• Guide the development process, which includes includes:
• You discuss and guard the project scope (define the desired product characteristics) and report on the project status regularly with all project stakeholders.
• You translate the project goal into a technical product definition.
• You plan, follow up and interpret lab analysis.
• You plan and follow up pilot trials and industrial scale-up trials in production.
• You organize bakery application trials (puff pastry, viennoiserie, cakes, cremes, …) with our technicians to evaluate product performance.
• You initiate cost price quotations and draft technical data sheets.
• You collect and manage all necessary data and inform departments accordingly (production, quality, masterdata,…) in order to launch the new product.

As Product Expert you:

• Become a reference contact for the sales channel.
• Build up an in-depth recipe and ingredient knowledge of our portfolio.
• Know and have a good understanding of the production plant capabilities and processing conditions (fat crystallization)
• Follow up competitor products and market trends.
• Give technical support in case of launching new innovations or complaints. If needed also on location at the customer.
• Organise or assist in customer visits to Vandemoortele and visits to the customer.
• Are in close contact with the bakery technicians and have good knowledge and understanding of the applications on test bakery and industrial scale.
• Build up specific technical knowledge through contacts with suppliers & customers, internal networking and literature, patents, seminars, institutes etc.