Research and Development Director

Director of Research and Development - Bakery, Food Manufacturing Are you ready to elevate your career and be a part of creating the world's best desserts? Dessert Holdings partners with some of North America's most iconic chains to bring people together to celebrate life's sweetest moments Dessert Holdings is looking for a Director of Research and Development to join our team onsite in London, Ontario . This individual will be responsible for delivering products within time, taste, functionality, quality, and cost expectations. In addition to working with and leading cross‑functional teams across facilities, this role will be hands‑on with leading, managing, and ultimately commercializing new products, Continuous Improvement projects, and Design‑to‑Value procurement opportunities. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: Manage all necessary channels of communication to facilitate customer needs. Create a culture of urgency within the R&D Department. Coach, mentor and develop the R&D staff. Maintain high awareness of consumers, technical trends, and new developments in the food industry, with strong emphasis on baking. Collaborate cross‑functionally with Purchasing, Operations and Marketing, to execute scale up and long‑term planning. Work as a technical liaison between Sales and Customers. Work with Purchasing Department on Vendor Approval and Sourcing Alternate Raw Materials. Work on Product Improvement Opportunities with short‑ and long‑term benefits including cost savings or efficiencies in operations. Consistently provide guidance as technical leader regarding solving technical, processing, and ingredient issues. Evaluate current and future technologies for recommendation of process improvements for cost savings and/or product improvement. Facilitate cross functional teams (marketing, sales, R&D) to integrate technical and culinary strengths in product development, with strong consumer and customer focus. Execute highly disciplined innovation process with a focus on commercial feasibility. QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS: Bachelor of Science in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemistry, or similar discipline. 10-15 years of product development or closely related experience in the food industry (bakery manufacturing), with 5 or more years of direct management of large technical group. Experience with setting annual budgets, tracking and controlling expenses, and overall financial management of a technical department/group consisting of both personnel and technical components. Academic food science knowledge with product development, new technology creation, and food manufacturing experience of bakery products. Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite with emphasis on SharePoint, Excel, and Word. Ability to read and write correspondence which uses technical/scientific terminology. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with all contacts inside and outside of the company with strong interpersonal and organizational skills. Proven Bakery or Functional Ingredient experience. This role will require travel up to 25% of the time. About Dessert Holdings Dessert Holdings is a collection of premium dessert companies and brands: The Original Cakerie, Lawler's Desserts, Atlanta Cheesecake Company, Steven Charles, Dianne's Fine Desserts, Kenny's Great Pies, and Willamette Valley Pie Company. Dessert Holdings is owned by Bain Capital, is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, employs more than 3,400 people across ten manufacturing facilities, and is continuing its journey of rapid growth. EEO Statement Dessert Holdings and its related entities provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or any other characteristics protected by law. #J-18808-Ljbffr