Associate Product Developer (Hybrid: Onsite and Remote)

ARE YOU A CURRENT US FOODS EMPLOYEE? PLEASE APPLY DIRECTLY THROUGH OUR INTERNAL WORKDAY CAREER SITE.

Join Our Community of Food People!

To support the development of innovative and consumer driven new exclusive brand products. Assist in the product development process from ideation to product launch formula/spec development and commercialization.

Responsibilities:

• Drive US Foods Exclusive Brands profitable growth and overall success, with focus on new innovation, and aligned with overall US Foods' strategy.

• Use technical expertise, portfolio analysis and insight to identify areas for innovation, claims/nutritional potential and improved profitability.

• Provide professional, objective opinion and feedback regarding key sensory questions in any/all food categories

• Commercialize products from ideation to launch by working closely with internal and external stakeholders.

• Contribute to continuous improvements of PD processes; represent the PD Team in cross functional team meetings

• Contribute to the definition of brand standards in regard to ingredient, nutritional and product attributes.

• Collaborate with Category Management, Culinary, Marketing, Food Safety & Quality, and other functions to drive project potential and assure aligned direction on priorities.

• Participate in the building of the Exclusive Brand category strategy in conjunction with Category Managers.

• Direct concept development within agreed business and category strategies.

• Identify and evaluate key vendors in conjunction with the product development & category teams. Develop vendor strategies based upon current vendor analyzed strengths in processing and long-term development requirements.

• Maintain solid technical and business understanding of the competitive set, and emerging technology to help identify gap or opportunity areas for technical point of difference in US Foods' products.

• Develop best-in-class nutritional attributes, formulas and product and ingredient specifications that meet corporate, regulatory, and consumer/customer needs.

• Drive for specification ownership and proprietary advantage where applicable to protect investments and block competitive potential; understand and use technical intellectual property as a key business protector and value add.

• Ensure that projects are delivered with the highest quality to the business on agreed timelines and within budget and are communicated with senior leadership and other stakeholders.

• Organize a variety of special projects and initiatives within the PD Team

• Provide support to marketing events and promotions.

Travel:

• Up to 20% overnight travel

Education/Training:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in food science. Meat science, or animal science & agribusiness may also be acceptable depending on categories. CCS (Certified Culinary Scientist by RCA) or other culinary experience/certification a plus but not required

• 2 - 3 years’ experience in product development of consumer-packaged goods, retail or foodservice industry. Prior experience in facilitation of group training is desired.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

• The candidate must have a strong foundation in the core fundamentals of the culinary arts

• Strong passion for food and the drive to develop this passion throughout the organization

• Strong sensory evaluation and analysis skills

• Excellent knowledge of HACCP and its application in food industry

• Strategic decision-making approach to business interests

• High collaboration and project management skills to work across a broad business base. Ability to influence and translate technical information in a non-technical way to all levels in an organization. Strong judgement and decision making skills.

• Highly organized with a strong focus on detail and accuracy. Able to thrive in a complex, high demand, evolving environment, requiring quick responsiveness.

• Must be able to handle multiple priorities while maintaining focus on the bottom line.

• Must demonstrate a high degree of written and verbal skills and have excellent organization and presentation skills

• Must be able to work effectively as an individual with minimal supervision or as a team member as required

• Must possess strong proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, OneDrive, and Outlook.

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***EOE Race/Color/Religion/Sex/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/National Origin/Protected Veteran/Disability Status***