Product Development Manager

Who We Are

Since 1955, we have been on a mission To Passionately Feed Millions Daily with High Quality Food People Enjoy!  We are a third-generation family-owned and professionally managed organization with a commitment to strategic growth. We continue to be successful because of talented people, just like you, who choose to join our family and call E.A. Sween home. We pride ourselves on fostering a welcoming, respectful, and rewarding culture where employees are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work each and every day.  At E.A. Sween, our team members are seen, heard, and appreciated not just for what they do, but for who they are. We hope you’ll join us!

Compensation: The target salary for this position is $125,000 annually, consistent with our internal compensation framework. This position is classified as Grade 16, with a full pay range of $97,417.80 to $154,486.70. You are eligible for an incentive bonus up too 5% of your annual salary, prorated based on your start date. Final pay will be determined by your experience, skills, internal equity, and available budget.

What We’re Seeking

We are seeking an Product Development Manager to lead product development for ready-to-eat food platforms, including sandwiches, wraps, handheld meals, and related prepared foods. This role combines hands-on development with team leadership to create products with consistent quality, consumer appeal, and clear business value. The Product Development Manager will lead culinary concept development, guide technical formulation, oversee bench and plant trials, and support commercialization from concept through launch. The ideal candidate brings strong product development experience, sound culinary judgment, food science capability, and proven people leadership.

What You’ll Do (Responsibilities)

Lead Product Development and Commercialization

• Lead new product development projects from concept through commercialization, ensuring products meet business, consumer, operational, and food safety requirements.
• Direct the development of ready-to-eat sandwiches, wraps, handheld meals, deli products, sauces, spreads, proteins, bakery-based foods, and prepared food systems.
• Manage product renovation, line extension, quality improvement, cost reduction, ingredient substitution, and productivity initiatives across the product portfolio.
• Lead bench development, culinary gold-standard creation, plant trials, first-production runs, and post-launch product evaluations.
• Design and execute experiments, analyze data, draw conclusions, and make sound technical recommendations to support product and process decisions.
• Develop and approve formulas, processing instructions, product specifications, trial reports, test data, and commercialization documents.
• Apply food science principles related to flavor, texture, moisture migration, water activity, pH, emulsions, thermal processing, shelf life, and food safety.
• Manage multiple technical projects with defined timelines, risk assessments, action plans, stakeholder alignment and consistent communication.
• Apply culinary expertise to product design, flavor development, ingredient selection, sensory strategy, and overall eating experience.
• Present product concepts, prototypes, technical updates, and recommendations to cross-functional leaders, customers, and key stakeholders
• Serve as a technical subject matter expert in customer meetings, product presentations, commercialization reviews, and internal decision-making forums.

Lead People and Build Organizational Capability

• Lead and develop a high-performing R&D team grounded in accountability, curiosity, collaboration, food safety, and continuous improvement.
• Strengthen culinary, technical, and commercialization capability across the R&D function through coaching, training, and clear performance expectations.
• Establish clear priorities, assign project responsibilities, review technical work, and ensure the team delivers against business, customer, and commercialization objectives.
• Manage, coach, and develop R&D scientists, technologists, technicians, and other team members to improve performance, engagement, and technical depth.
• Monitor industry trends, culinary trends, ingredient innovation, competitive activity, processing technologies, packaging formats, and evolving consumer needs.
• Identify product opportunities that deliver differentiated, craveable, portable, and commercially viable solutions for the RTE food category.
• Support innovation pipelines, customer-specific development, platform expansion, and long-term product strategy through disciplined technical leadership.
• Improve R&D systems, documentation standards, trial planning, sensory practices, and commercialization processes to increase speed, consistency, and execution quality.
• Influence cross-functional teams and guide business decisions using data, sensory insights, technical expertise, food safety requirements, and commercial priorities.

What You’ll Need (Qualifications)

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Culinary Science, Culinology, Food Engineering or a related discipline.
• 7 or more years of product development experience within the food industry.
• Strong culinary capability with a practical understanding of commercial food production, manufacturing constraints, and cost targets.
• Demonstrated experience developing ready-to-eat foods, prepared meals, sandwiches, wraps, bakery-based products, meat systems, cheese applications, sauces, spreads, or related CPG food products.
• Experience leading products from concept, bench development, prototype creation, plant trials, and commercialization.
• Strong technical knowledge of ingredient functionality, formulation, food safety, shelf life, sensory evaluation, and manufacturing scale-up.

Preferred Qualifications (if applicable)

• Master’s degree in Food Science, Culinary Science, or related technical field.
• Culinary degree, professional kitchen experience, or applied culinary product development experience.
• Experience with chilled, refrigerated, MAP, and shelf-life-sensitive food products.
• Experience with consumer research, sensory methods, DOE, statistical analysis, and data-based product optimization.
• Knowledge of PLM, ERP, formulation systems, specification systems, Microsoft Office, and project management tools.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

• This role works in office, laboratory, and production environments.
• Regular work in chilled production areas around 50°F may be required.
• The role requires frequent tasting and sensory evaluation of food products.
• Occasional lifting or moving of ingredients, samples, or supplies up to 25 to 50 pounds may be required.
• Some off-hour work may occur during plant trials, start-ups, commercialization runs, or customer deadlines.
• Travel up to 25 percent may be required based on business needs.

How You’ll Find Success at EAS

• Value People Most of All: Show respect & care, embrace diversity, and empower others.
• Commit to Safety Everyday: See something say something do something, practice safe behavior, and celebrate safety success.
• Invest in Our Company to Thrive: Share ideas to improve, learn & grow, and embrace change.
• Think Before Doing And Act Decisively: Make thoughtful decisions, work together to find solutions, and do what’s right.
• Welcome Constructive Straight Talk: Be honest and respectful even when difficult, be open to ideas and feedback, and ask questions to understand.
• Serve Up Exceptional Experiences: Provide value to customers, take pride in your work, and help others to be successful.
• Enjoy What You Do!: Have a positive attitude, Live the Spirit of E.A. Sween, and celebrate success.

E.A. Sween is proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the health, financial security, and well-being of our team members. Benefits include:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• 8 Paid Holidays
• Company-Paid Life Insurance
• 401(k) with Company Match – fully vested after 2 years
• Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Plans
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Employee Recognition Program (Boss Bucks)