Sabra Dipping Company Looking for Director Food Product Development at Colonial Heights, VA Full Time

Founded in 1986 in Queens, New York, Sabra Dipping Company is a leader in the refrigerated dips and spreads category and producer of America’s top-selling hummus. Sabra’s award-winning products offer consumers fresh new ways of eating and connecting and include a variety of flavors of hummus and guacamole. Our people are driven by our purpose to unite and delight the world around planet positive food and are committed to supporting individuals ‘being at their best’ by bringing fresh ideas to the table and turning their passion for food into results that matter.

Dip Into Your Role

• Conceive, develop, and execute renovation and innovation projects in collaboration with marketing and optimizing PLM across hummus, guacamole, and beyond hummus and guacamole
• Demonstrated expertise developing and implementing best practices
• Provide support for R&D resources including coaching, mentoring, technical support, and formula development as needed
• Network with international areas to inspire their innovation pipelines and pull learnings from those areas that can be executed in the U.S
• Inspire and elevate the innovation spirit within the Sabra team
• Manage teams of managers and product developers from the technical idea to the commercialization process
• Bring technical rigor and discipline to our technical processes
• Exemplify and amplify the team’s passion for food science and learning
• Provide food science (technical and process) mentorship across the core business and the new business subgroups
• Lead with technical acumen, sensory science, and differentiable technology
• Deliver new consumer benefits and renovation of current products that enhance the consumer experience, including the integration of ongoing consumer research to guide the product development process, while leading the innovation and renovation of plant-based products

Recipe for Success

• 10+ years’ experience in the development and commercialization of products, preferably food products
• Bachelor’s Degree in food science, food technology, nutrition, culinary, or another related field
• Master’s degree preferred
• Extensive technical depth, education, and working knowledge of food science and product development with a track record of launching innovative food products into the marketplace
• Deep understanding of ingredients (beyond flavor enhancements) on both a functional and technical level – understand how to use them to develop and commercialize robust products
• Experience innovating refrigerated, Ready to Eat Foods strongly preferred, but product development of Fast Moving Consumer Goods is also relevant
• High-performing, purpose-led, mission-driven leader with extensive experience leading and developing a team of 5 or more
• Experience mentor and coach
• Collaborative, accountable, with high integrity, direct, and transparent; embodies and emulates Sabra’s values
• Record of successfully delivering on both short and long-term commercially successful product development strategies
• Strong project management skills
• Demonstrates innovative thinking and leverages intellectual curiosity
• Effectively works in cross-functional teams and influence progress
• Strong people skills including influencing and creating alignment
• Strong communication skills – communicates successfully cross-functionally and at all levels
• Solid organizational skills including attention to detail and multitasking skills
• Manage projects successfully, including organizing and prioritizing resources and timeline management
• A global mindset that values, respects, and supports diversity and inclusion
• Successfully partnered with culturally diverse teams
• Thinks outside the box and pulls inspiration from other disciplines
• Utilize problem-solving techniques and steer teams to appropriate resolution of issues
• Astute business acumen including the ability to understand financial metrics associated with innovation, renovation, Cost of Goods Sold, and productivity projects
• Record of successfully delivering on both short and long-term commercially successful product development strategies
• Working knowledge of manufacturing, operations, and quality required
• Ability to travel up to 20%
• Able and willing to work regularly onsite at the Virginia Plant

We celebrate an inclusive environment and provide equal opportunity for development and advancement. As an equal opportunity employer, all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, status as a covered veteran or uniform service member, or any other protected characteristic under applicable federal, state and/or local law.