Senior Product Development Technologist

at  Danone

About the job
Are you an experienced professional and looking for a new challenge in the product development space? Would you enjoy a technical role in the early life nutrition industry? We have a fantastic opportunity for a Senior Product Development Technologist to be part of our talented and dynamic R&I team based in Auckland. As a key member of a team, you will be responsible for driving the successful end-to-end product development delivery through the application of in-depth knowledge in manufacturing process optimisation, nutritional powder formulation, and their interactions.
Reporting to the Product Development Manager, you will be responsible for the delivery of product development outputs and where necessary wider cross-functional projects, ensuring on-time and quality delivery against business expectations. You will act as a key link between the R &I team and the Operations team to ensure concept base powder formulations can be successfully scaled up and commercialised in the plant with clear operational/process specifications stipulated while meeting plant manufacturing KPIs.

Your responsibilities will include (but are not limited to):

• Drive optimisation in products & processes to achieve cost-effective recipe design, effective material selection, product optimization scalability, and use of zero-base mind set/ tools
• Provide support to operations in Auckland & Balclutha sites with ongoing maintenance and troubleshooting of existing product portfolios
• Support product development projects in the space of formulations, sourcing new ingredients, trials, and testing, and updating technical documents
• Lead relevant part of the R&I module of China registration at NZSP including – stakeholder management in China and NZSP, trial, dossier preparation, and SMAR audit
• Identify & share opportunities for innovations and productivity that create and add value to the business.
• Ensure ongoing product and plant process performance monitoring, data collection, and analysis
• Work collaboratively with cross-functional teams including Global teams for the effective execution of projects.

About you
You are an experienced product development technologist who has great cross-functional collaboration skills, sound technical skills and an inclusive working style with an agile mindset. Your prior experience in a fast-paced dairy/infant formula manufacturing environment handling a technical portfolio will be advantageous. You have a positive attitude, are easy to get along with, and have a natural flair for building rapport with great people skills.

To be successful you will also have:

• Tertiary qualification in Chemical Engineering/Food Science/Dairy Science/Life Science/Human Nutrition or related field
• Relevant experience in a similar role within a dairy/infant formula/ FMCG industry is highly desired
• Experience in China registration/nGB will be an advantage
• Good Excel and MS Office suite skills will be preferred
• Excellent communication skills – written and verbal
• Sound planning and organization skills with an ability to work with shifting priorities

About us
Danone’s mission is to bring health through food to as many people as possible and we want to invite people to join the movement for a healthier world. We recognize the power people have to impact the world through their daily choices. Each time we eat and drink, we vote for the world we want to live in. We believe a healthy body needs healthy food. And healthy food needs a healthy planet, and this is what our new signature One Planet One Health embodies.
Danone Nutricia Specialised Nutrition produces specialty foods for infants and young children, and our mission “We make every day count for you and your baby” gives meaning to everything we do. We operate out of 3 sites in New Zealand in Auckland and Balclutha, where our teams undertake the manufacturing, distribution, and development of our infant milk and toddler supplements with market-leading brands.

• Drive optimisation in products & processes to achieve cost-effective recipe design, effective material selection, product optimization scalability, and use of zero-base mind set/ tools
• Provide support to operations in Auckland & Balclutha sites with ongoing maintenance and troubleshooting of existing product portfolios
• Support product development projects in the space of formulations, sourcing new ingredients, trials, and testing, and updating technical documents
• Lead relevant part of the R&I module of China registration at NZSP including – stakeholder management in China and NZSP, trial, dossier preparation, and SMAR audit
• Identify & share opportunities for innovations and productivity that create and add value to the business.
• Ensure ongoing product and plant process performance monitoring, data collection, and analysis
• Work collaboratively with cross-functional teams including Global teams for the effective execution of projects