R&D Liquid Manager

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Company: Campari México

Job Title: Liquid R&D Manager

Job Location: Arandas, Jalisco or Guadalajara, Jalisco (visiting Arandas 2-3 days/week)

Reports to: Liquid R&D Director – Americas

Organizational Layer (global, regional or local): Local

General Description of the Role

Given the nature of the Company's business and the marketplace, the business and/or jobs will evolve and change over time. Accordingly, the Company may add or delete the duties and responsibilities listed below as circumstances change.

The Liquid Research and Development (R&D) Manager will strategize and lead liquid R&D activities within Mexico in accordance with Global Liquid R&D standards. These activities include new product and process development, qualification of alternate ingredients, processes, and equipment, developing new suppliers and co-manufacturers, partnering with internal stakeholders to identify liquid-related improvement opportunities, line management of junior R&D staff, and other R&D related activities. The role will conduct regulatory compliance assessments and will be the technical representative for relevant industry consortiums within Mexico. The role will also serve as a technical consultant for the business to help resolve liquid-related issues. Domestic and occasional international travel will be required for the role, including travel to the relevant sites, suppliers, co-manufacturers, and off-site meetings/conferences.

Key Responsibilities and Activities

• Lead, engage and empower Liquid R&D team within Mexico.
• Serve as a technical resource in Mexico for liquid development and liquid processing; supporting Regional and Global Quality, R&D and Supply Chain teams on technical issues, potential new opportunities, or other initiatives as needed.
• Deliver highest complexity liquid innovation, renovation, and business integration programs within Mexico by overseeing:
  • Ideation with Marketing teams, feasibility studies, protocol development, trials, testing, compliance assessments, specification development, technical/consumer information management, bill of material creation and management, artwork approvals on liquid-related information, and writing and management of manufacturing instructions
  • Full compliance of all ingredients and finished products with quality, food safety, and regulatory requirements of all relevant markets.
  • Efficient and timely execution of projects by team;
  • A smooth product introduction into manufacturing, validating industrial trials and transferring manufacturing instructions to internal and external manufacturing partners;
  • The development of finished product specifications, formulas and manufacturing instructions for all new beverages produced in Mexico;
  • The technical qualification of ingredients, processing equipment, and/or manufacturing sites (internal or external).
  • Proper training of plant personnel (i.e. Processing and Quality), Marketing, and Commercial teams on new products
• Responsible for product mastership of the current and future product categories within Mexico (Tequila, Mezcal, RTDs, Liqueurs, etc.)
• Partner with Regional/Global R&D, Marketing, Procurement, and Engineering/Manufacturing to build and prioritize a pipeline of relevant projects that address innovation needs, cost risks, supply risks, and productivity risks.
• Build a research pipeline and lead research initiatives for Mexico as well as contribute to regional initiatives, when necessary.
• Partner with Procurement and Quality teams to identify risk mitigation and/or cost savings opportunities and build a pipeline of projects to be executed.
• Partner with Manufacturing and Engineering teams to identify productivity initiatives and build a pipeline of projects to be executed.
• Bring creative solutions to technical challenges, ensure liquid and processing-related risks are assessed and mitigation plans are in place for all projects.
• Provide liquid input and commercial grounding during project development phases
• Proactively manage liquid-related communications to relevant Marketing, Supply Chain, and External stakeholders.
• Nurture and build excellent relationships with peer group, stakeholders, and decision makers within GSM, Local Marketing and throughout the Local and Regional Supply Chain organization.  

• Engage and collaborate with local research institutes and/or academic institutions on key research projects and initiatives

• Ensure knowledge sharing within department and more broadly with the Global R&D community, when relevant.

• Consolidate and centralize product and ingredient information of products within Mexico.

• Ensures changes in ingredients/process aids, processes, plants, and co-manufacturers are properly assessed and qualified according to Campari standards.

Key Relationships

Internal

• Marketing – Global and Local Teams
• Manufacturing and Engineering – Regional and Local Teams
• Quality – Regional and Local Teams
• Procurement – Regional and Local Teams
• R&D – Regional and Local Teams
• Legal and Regulatory - Regional and Local Teams
• Finance – Regional and Local

External

• Suppliers
• Co-Manufacturers
• Research Institutes

Experience Required

• 10+ years experience product development or R&D experience is required
• 5+ years of leading projects, initiatives and/or people is required.
• 5+ years of experience in alcoholic beverage is required
• Prior people management experience
• Experience working with multi-functional teams.
• Experience in sensory evaluation
• Experience working with external vendors and co-manufacturers is required
• Experience across different product areas (product development, regulatory affairs, quality, production, sensory analysis, laboratory etc.) is a plus.

Education / Professional Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in a relevant field (Chemical Engineering, Food Science, Food Process Engineering, etc.) is required.

Skills

• Strong business acumen, communication, interpersonal, influencing, and relationship building skills
• Demonstrated ability to lead, thrive, and provide guidance within a multi-disciplined team in a fast moving environment.
• Strong theoretical knowledge of raw materials, liquid development, industrialization processes, and manufacturing technologies.
• Excellent problem solving skills
• Keen eyesight and sense of smell required for the organoleptic evaluation of products and raw materials.
• Ability to design and lead experiments to test theories and meet objectives.
• Competent in Microsoft Office Applications
• Spanish and English language

Our commitment to Diversity & Inclusion:

At Campari Group we believe in building more value together, thus we see diversity in all forms as a source of enrichment. Our employment policies and practices ensure that we are committed to providing equal employment opportunities in all aspects of employment without regard to any individual’s race, religion, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or characteristics or expression, political affiliation or activity, age, veteran status, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Note to applicants:

Your application will be assessed based on your abilities, expertise, general knowledge and experience, not because of any confidential, proprietary or trade secret information you may possess. You must not disclose to Campari Group any such information. In the event that you are asked a question that cannot be answered without disclosure of any confidential, proprietary or trade secret information (including from a current or prior employer or their vendors or customers), you must decline to answer the question.

Notice to third party agencies:

Please refrain from cold-calling or emailing our executive leadership team or the HR community directly. The Talent Acquisition department manages centralized recruiting operations globally, including the selection and management of external suppliers. Currently, our preferred supplier list is at full capacity. To ensure we have your information on file for future consideration, we kindly request that you complete the online form provided here.