Product & Process R&D Group Leader, Biscuits

Job Description
Are You Ready to Make It Happen at Mondelēz International?
Join our Mission to Lead the Future of Snacking. Make It With Pride.
Working as part of a cross-functional team, you are recognized internally as a technical expert in an area of importance to the RDQ function. You identify, define and solve complex business problems by applying your broad and in-depth technical knowledge. As an expert in your technical specialty, this leadership role requires you to interact with senior management and cross-functional teams to meet current and future strategic demands of the business.
How you will contribute
You will plan, lead and manage complex technically focused projects while using your technical expertise to guide, direct and influence activities lead by others. To ensure the right solutions are developed, you will use consumer knowledge and your technical expertise to identify future opportunities and to execute programs with technical rigor. This role will require you to work with cross-functional partners develop and align resource and budget needs for projects. You will be responsible for the technical outcomes of developments related to evaluating new ingredients, formulas, recipes and processes and understanding the impact on scale up between laboratory and production facilities. You will also be responsible for quantifying the technical risks to make recommendations and influence stakeholders. As a people leader, you will mentor and coach others to grow their technical talent.
What you will bring
A desire to drive your future and accelerate your career and the following experience and knowledge:

• Using your excellent technical expertise to set and deliver the RDQ agenda
• Effectively influencing category leads (e.g. vice presidents)
• Using critical thinking and thought leadership to ensure that solutions are developed for complex issues
• Working collaboratively in a fast-paced commercial and technical environment
• Coaching and mentoring others

More about this role
Overview:
As a Canadian Biscuit Product and Process Development Group Leader, you will play a pivotal role in driving the realization of Canadian BU's 2030 vision through influencing the business strategy and executing end to end initiatives. You will lead a dynamic team of innovators and collaborators, overseeing the entire product development lifecycle from ideation to launch. Your strategic mindset, leadership abilities, and passion for innovation will be instrumental in shaping the future of our products.
Responsibilities:
Strategic Planning: Align and influence business plans for Canada Biscuit brands. Act as the R&D representative to coordinate the prioritization of resources across R&D sub-functions, ensuring that resources are allocated optimally to maximize business returns.
Team Leadership: Lead, mentor, and inspire a team of developers. Foster a culture of creativity, collaboration, and accountability within the team.
Innovation Management: Drive innovation by championing new ideas, technologies, and methodologies. Encourage experimentation and risk-taking while maintaining a focus on delivering impactful, scalable solutions.
Execution Excellence: Oversee the end-to-end product development process, ensuring timely delivery of high-quality products that delight consumers. Proactively identify and mitigate risks to project timelines and budgets. Continuous quality improvements to deliver journey to 5cpmu.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Foster strong partnerships with other functions, including marketing, BD, PCM and MSC, to ensure seamless integration of product initiatives across the organization.
Communication and Reporting: Communicate progress, challenges, and achievements to senior leadership and other stakeholders. Prepare and deliver clear, concise presentations and reports to convey complex ideas and recommendations.
Education / Certifications:
Bachelor's degree in food science, chemical engineering, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
Proven experience (7 + years) in product management or product development leadership roles, with a track record of successfully delivering end to end projects.
What extra ingredients you will bring:
Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate high-level vision into actionable plans and initiatives.
Excellent leadership and team-building abilities, with a demonstrated ability to inspire and motivate cross-functional teams.
Deep understanding of product development methodologies, including agile, technical rigor tools, and design thinking principles.
Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively at all levels of the organization.
Experience working in dynamic, fast-paced environments; ability to thrive in ambiguity and drive results in challenging situations.
Travel requirements:
Less than 20% of the work schedule
Work schedule:
Regular business hours M-F (Hybrid)
No Relocation support available
Business Unit Summary
With several brands that are among consumer favourites, including Cadbury, OREO, Christie and Maynards, we are one of the largest snack companies in Canada. Many of our iconic brands are ranked first, second or third in their categories, and our manufacturers and pastry chefs have an enviable mission to create and manufacture chocolate, cookies, crackers and candy in our iconic factories and locations across Ontario. A company with many ambitious growth targets, we have invested close to $250 million in our Ontario plants in recent years alone; We run marketing campaigns promoting innovative products such as Cadbury Dark Milk tablets and OREO Birthday Cake and Peppermint Bark cookies. Our community of more than 2,683 employees is present across Canada and our head office is in Toronto. Passion and dedication characterize our Company. We encourage all our employees to be themselves at work, to speak out and to encourage diversity in all areas of activity. In addition, we foster a flexible work environment and place great importance on the notions of trust and empathy to promote a true sense of belonging.
Mondelez welcomes and encourages applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates with disabilities taking part in all aspects of the selection process. Please note that the term "accommodation" in this posting means changes that are made in order to meet the needs of a person with disabilities and not lodging.
Job Type
Regular
Product development
Science & Engineering