Director - Innovation - The J.M. Smucker Company - Orrville

Job description
WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING
In your role as Director, Natural and Organic Foods Innovation, success is defined by taking on the following responsibilities:

Responsible for strategic deliverables of the Natural and Specialty Foods Innovation team
Develop a strong innovation road-map that aligns to our business strategy and drives our brands to the forefront of the natural and organic industry
Incorporate your understanding of consumer insights and emerging trends to develop a robust pipeline of natural and organic products
Develop game-changing ideas to bring our brands to the next level
Identify and develop new strategic opportunities, platforms and initiatives that will enhance our existing brands and portfolios and work with marketing to define positioning for new brands in the pipeline
Deliver an enhanced process to facilitate new products
Build and internal and external network that to help support the innovation roadmap

Benchmark practices and performance rates against peer companies
Align resources and work flow to the business strategy
Grow, nurture and feed the pipeline for our Natural & Specialty Foods Innovation staff
Maintain a network of Innovation contacts within the Natural Foods Industry
Collaborate with key customers around key trend/innovation insights and future new product introduction

Desired Skills and Experience

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO BRING TO THE TABLE

Smucker has a rich history of family tradition and success in the business we operate. Your history is important to us. It should include the following:
Education
Bachelor’s degree is required (Food Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Packaging Engineering/Science or other related science/technical degree are preferred but other types of degrees with relevant experience will be considered)
Masters or PhD degree is preferred
Experience
A minimum of 10 years of experience in Research and Development with
demonstrated experience in the Natural Foods industry is required
Experience working with beverages and ancient grains is a plus
Other
A passion for natural and organic foods (love of kale is a bonus)
Ability to work closely with Marketing and other R&D teams
Ability to identify and implement best practices
Proven history of fostering a culture of innovation
Effective presentation, verbal and written communication skills
Ability to influence others internally and externally, including senior management
Ability to travel to shows, plants, or other meetings
Ability to bring a product from concept to commercialization
Leading a team through this process (lab work and plant scale up)
Ability use due diligence through Merger & Acquisition activities
WHERE YOU’LL WORK
Orrville, OH (Greater Cleveland area)
~Depending on where you live now, a package to move you here may be available.

WHO YOU’LL REPORT TO
Vice President & General Manager, Smucker Natural Foods

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