Director Product Research

People. Planet. Community.

Dairy’s journey starts on the farm, and the road we travel demonstrates our unwavering commitment to sustainable nutrition, as our farmers provide lasting and meaningful nourishment to people, the planet and our communities, both urban and rural.

We are a nonprofit organization located in the greater Chicagoland area and we're always looking for talented people to join our team who share the passion and motivation to promote the goodness of dairy.

Position Overview (office-based in Rosemont, IL with hybrid flexibility; relocation is not available for this position):

The purpose of this position at Dairy Management Inc. is to oversee and drive product research and commercialization programs. The individual in this role will work closely with a range of internal and external stakeholders, including the universities in the dairy centers network, researchers, the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the Wellness & Innovation team, and industry partners to achieve both short and long-term goals. As a leader, coach, and technical expert, this person will be responsible for ensuring that key success criteria are met for all projects. Additionally, this position will serve as a subject matter expert on dairy product science and technology and will be responsible for identifying commercial opportunities to support renovation and innovation strategies.

Develop, manage and execute plans to commercialize research emanating from DMI funded programs. Work closely with university researchers to ensure scalability of DMI funded research

• Identify partners to scale up research from benchtop to pilot and work closely with partners to optimize process and ingredients (Continued)
• Be the intermediary between university researchers and external partners to calibrate processes and address scalability problems
• Identify opportunity areas for product offerings developed through collaborative research projects. Work with application labs to develop product concepts for customer sampling
• Work closely with customers for ingredient scale up and launch.

Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders (dairy farmers, wellness & innovation, USDEC, Dairy and Food industry, etc. ) to identify research opportunity areas

• Gain stakeholder input including Dairy Farmers, DMI business units, state and regional organizations, dairy industry that includes end users, processors and suppliers, Universities and government organizations
• Develop product research funding proposals and presentations (as needed) for partners
• Build and nurture partnerships to grow R&D investment in dairy foods research
• Communicate key research outcomes to farmers, staff and member units to assist in planning

Provide support to U.S. Dairy Export Council /wellness & innovation / Innovation Center / by delivering technical insights and activating research to improve global competitiveness.

• Provide strategic leadership and input into partnership needs and proactively identify opportunities to translate product research outcomes for activation with partners

• Ensure that program outcomes are communicated to appropriate stakeholders

Provide leadership to support product research program execution, activation and communication plans.  Example of activities:

• Design and implement appropriate product research projects at universities and research laboratories
• Manage funded research programs which involves monitoring progress of research projects through review of scientific and financial reports, and review of manuscripts, abstracts, publications, etc. generated from research
• Manage product research intellectual property assets
• Package research to enable technology transfer and activation
• Communicate key research outcomes to DMI staff, industry, industry partners, and scientific communities, as appropriate.  Write and present results and technical information at scientific and trade meetings.
• Promote scientific research which supports dairy products in the market through representing dairy industry at scientific meetings and reviewing communications/advertising for technical accuracy, as appropriate.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications:

Education & Experience:

• Doctorate or Master’s degree in Dairy Science, Food Science, or related field with industry experience (preferred 5+ years).

• Industry experience: Experience in the development and management of product research, product development and commercialization of dairy products / technology or manufacturing).

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Teamwork and customer service orientation required.
• Candidate must be highly skilled in oral and written communications, including presentation skills.
• Must possess ability to lead a group and work with others in pursuit of a vision through interpersonal skills, issue sensitivity, problem solving, facilitation, leadership and negotiation.
• Must have strong technical skills including research design, statistical analysis, and interpretation of scientific research. Training in strategic planning and media is a plus.
• Strong strategic thinking and business acumen
• Strong team leadership and people management skills
• Strong work ethic and integrity; a good representative of farmer values

Benefits

We know that in order to meet our goal of growing dairy demand, we need the best people. We offer competitive compensation and generous benefits to help our employees balance their work and personal lives.

Our comprehensive health and welfare plans offer medical, dental, vision, life, short-term and long-term disability and flexible spending accounts (health care, dependent care, transit and parking). Our 401(k) provides up to a 10% match and includes a Roth account. DMI reserves the right to change or end its benefits plans or programs at any time.

Dairy Management Inc.™ is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer committed to the principles of diversity. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, ethnicity, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

ABOUT DAIRY MANAGEMENT INC.

Dairy Management Inc.™ (DMI) is funded by America’s 29,000+ dairy farmers, as well as dairy importers. Created to help increase sales and demand for dairy products, DMI and its related organizations work to increase demand for dairy through research, education and innovation, and to maintain confidence in dairy foods, farms and businesses. DMI manages National Dairy Council and the American Dairy Association, and founded the U.S. Dairy Export Council and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. DMI works with state and regional promotion organizations to implement these programs across the country.

We regret it is not possible to communicate with candidates except those who most closely match our requirements. Thank you.