Senior Development Specialist R&D

Senior Development Specialist

The Development Specialist is part of the Proteins development team of FrieslandCampina Ingredients and oversees complex development projects, coordinating cross-functional teams to ensure successful implementation of new products and processes. With a strong foundation in food science or food technology, the specialist possesses extensive expertise in dairy proteins, combining both theoretical knowledge and practical experience. Acting as a project manager, you collaborate effectively with various R&D groups and departments such as supply chain and product management, delivering pragmatic and economically viable solutions. This role also requires providing hands-on support when necessary. Ultimately, the Development Specialist plays a key role in advancing dairy protein innovations from laboratory research to full-scale factory production, enhancing the valorization of dairy streams.

Wat we vragen

• Master’s degree in Food Science or Dairy Technology, or a related field with more than 7 years of experience.
• Demonstrated experience in milk protein development and functionality, particularly within the context of dairy proteins and a B2B innovation environment.
• Proven project management capabilities.
• Proficiency in experimental design, data analysis, and reporting.
• Experience with leading and organizing pilot and factory trials.
• Knowledge of food safety and risk assessment.
• Understands how other disciplines operate on a high level (way of working), e.g. (segment) marketing, product group management, sales, supply chain.
• Basic knowledge of nomenclature of marketing, sales, QA/RA, nutrition, finance, process technology.
• Advanced project management.
• Effective and excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Resilient and problem solver.
• Digitally savvy.

Wat we bieden

• Unique company culture of Dutch heritage and international presence.
• We offer great work life balance, and competitive salary & benefits package so you can enjoy it; flexible working hours and the ability to work from home.
• Diverse training and mentoring programs to help you grow on your own professional journey; exceptional support of (cross disciplinary) movement within the company to broaden your knowledge and growth paths.
• A friendly and informal working environment, yet professional team members as sparring partners; autonomy and trust to create longer term impact that helps bring better nutrition to the world.

Vacaturetekst

In this position, your tasks and responsibilities include:

• Manage multiple projects and provide coaching to team members, ensuring thorough documentation and alignment with all relevant stakeholders.
• Assume full responsibility for the clearance, validation, and implementation of new products and processes.
• Develop resource and budget plans for projects, delivering results within agreed timelines, budgets, and quality standards in collaboration with the team.
• Independently set up, plan, execute, analyze, and report on experiments, ensuring thorough documentation and data integrity.
• Keep protein product and process know how up to date by making use of knowledge management systems and SAP-PLM together with other disciplines (specification management, process technology, supply chain) including recipe and specification development.
• Work closely with cross-functional teams, including R&D, quality assurance/RA, marketing, product group management, and production, to drive product development initiatives.
• Develop and maintain internal relations and initiates, develops and maintains external relations at a tactical level.
• Stay up to date of trends and advancements in the organization, industry, and science, contributing to continuous improvement and innovation within the team.

Ons team

You will be a member of the cluster Proteins within the FrieslandCampina Ingredients development team. The position is based in Wageningen, the Netherlands, in the FrieslandCampina Innovation Centre. The Proteins team comprises a mix of highly skilled experts, project managers and development specialists. The dairy protein ingredients we develop and maintain are targeted at the markets Early Life Nutrition, Medical Nutrition and Performance & Active Nutrition.