Senior Development Specialist

Senior Development Specialist

Are you motivated to create indulgent dairy experiences that tantalize the palates of consumers across Europe? Would you like to craft innovative dairy products that perfectly cater the cravings of the contemporary customers? We are on the hunt for a creative and motivated Senior Development Specialist to strengthen our Chilled Dairy Development Team.

By taking this role, you will lead and execute complex, high-impact R&D projects involving new technologies, processes, and cross-functional teams. Your work will focus on innovating, renovating, optimizing, and maintaining new and existing SKUs, with significant influence on product properties and business outcomes. Acting as a technical lead, you will drive key projects independently, often guiding other R&D colleagues.

You will play an essential role in the innovation and revitalization of our product portfolios, working with renowned in-house brands (e.g., Campina, Optimel, NoyNoy) and major private label partnerships. The position requires collaboration with Marketing, Supply Chain, QA, Procurement, and other R&D teams to develop and deliver the next generation of fresh dairy products.

Wat we vragen

• You have a broader view than just your position and you can identify with our purpose ‘Nourishing by Nature’.
• You take responsibility for your work and are continuously looking for new opportunities to make a change.
• A Master degree, preferably in the area of food technology, food processing, dairy technology, physical-chemistry or alike.

• At least five years of relevant experience in an R&D environment, ideally in the field of fermented dairy.
• Willingness to travel to production locations in the Netherlands.

Key Competencies:

• Project Management: Strong understanding of project management principles. Able to technically lead project startups, co-create product and packaging briefs, provide technical feasibility reports, and ensure final product clearance. Experienced in managing the technical aspects of complex projects.
• Stakeholder Management: Skilled in executing focused plans, removing unnecessary obstacles, and coordinating across functions to ensure alignment and delivery.
• Managing Complexity: Experienced in analyzing complex and sometimes conflicting information to identify effective solutions.
• Personal Development: Demonstrates a commitment to self-development through curiosity and openness to feedback, actively pursuing opportunities to grow.
• Strong team player with leadership potential, able to collaborate effectively while showing the ability to take on leadership roles when needed.

Technical skills:

• Strong expertise in dairy, preferably in fermented and fresh dairy products.
• Proficient in recipe development from sensory, physical-chemical, and nutritional perspectives.
• Advanced data analysis and problem-solving skills; focused on quality and results-driven outcomes.

Wat we bieden

• A good primary and secondary remuneration package and work life balance.
• A meaningful job, contributing to providing better nutrition for the world.
• Not just a job but a career, starting in a team that highly values your development and growth opportunities.
• Hybrid way of working (good balance of working from home vs from office).
• An international company with strong Dutch heritage.

Vacaturetekst

As a senior development specialist your accountabilities are:

Technical lead in new product development for BG Europe

• Lead the development of innovative fresh dairy products, from concept to full implementation, in complex and dynamic environments.
• Manage large-scale, technically advanced, and business-critical projects with relatively high risks.
• Scale up new products in production environments, ensuring compliance with operational, quality, and safety guidelines.
• Design, plan, execute, and analyse experiments, addressing risks and aligning with business and R&D strategies.
• Ensure smooth handover of new products or processes to operational teams (FC internal or external manufacturers).

Innovation and Strategy

• Act as a subject matter expert in relevant product category, providing key contributions to R&D technology and business strategy and nutrition roadmaps.
• Identify and translate emerging commercial and technological trends that align with business goals into actionable opportunities.
• Proactively improve existing processes and explore fresh insights from external and internal sources to strengthen innovation.

Knowledge development and stakeholder management

• Build and maintain strong networks across departments such as Marketing, QA, Supply Chain, Procurement, and external partners.
• Represent R&D in complex projects by providing technical expertise, actively addressing issues, and collaborating with business and supply chain stakeholders to communicate impacts and recommend solutions that consider both business priorities and potential outcomes.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Serve as the technical lead and primary point of contact for assigned projects, ensuring alignment with business priorities and timelines.
• Work independently within established guidelines, align with managers and directors effectively.
• Lead by example in adhering to project management standards and actively contribute to enhancing ways of working of R&D projects.
• Build strong collaboration with team members, mentor and coach junior product developers and students in projects.

All employees at FrieslandCampina share a single passion: Nourishing by Nature. With our brands - over 30 - we reach millions of people in more than 100 countries. FrieslandCampina consists of a number of business groups and operating companies with offices all around the world. The Chilled Dairy development team is part of the Food & Beverage business group. The team is located in Wageningen (The Netherlands) and consists of in total 13 colleagues (the broader team consists of more than 40 colleagues) with very diverse and international backgrounds.

Within the Chilled Dairy development team, we are responsible for all fresh dairy products (excluding cheese, butter and meat alternatives) for the European business-to-consumer market. Our main focus is on the development of healthy, nourishing, and indulgent products, such as (high protein) yoghurt, drinking yoghurt, Greek style yoghurt, quark, milks and desserts.

For thousands of people every day, we are more than just a dairy company. To our farmers, our employees, the communities we serve, the businesses we work with and the people to whom we bring happiness, FrieslandCampina means something more. For them it's not just about what we do, but who we are.

We value talented people from any background who want to contribute to something bigger than themselves. We encourage all of our employees to make decisions that benefit our entire company. At FrieslandCampina we own our own career and act accordingly. We trust you to make a difference in your job and influence the bigger picture. Working at FrieslandCampina means you are contributing to a better world.