R&D Manager

Description

 Join a Mission That Matters – Enrich Lives with Butterball® Farms

At Butterball® Farms, we’re more than a world-class food manufacturer — we’re a company on a mission: to Enrich Lives. For over 60 years, we’ve proudly partnered with the world’s premier food brands to deliver innovative, value-added butter products. But our impact goes far beyond the food industry.

Recognized globally for our excellence and named one of West Michigan’s Best and Brightest Companies, we invest deeply in our people, our communities, and our future. From fostering innovation and personal growth to supporting local neighborhoods, we believe success starts with a strong, supportive workplace.

When you join Butterball® Farms, you’re joining a team that values growth, innovation, and making a difference — together.

What We Offer

At Butterball® Farms, we believe that when our people grow, our company grows. That’s why we’re proud to offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support your success — both on and off the job.

• Opportunities for Growth & Advancement Build your career in an environment that encourages development and internal promotion.
• Innovative & Inclusive Culture Join a workplace that celebrates innovation, continuous improvement, personal growth, and diversity.
• Shift Premiums Competitive pay with additional premiums for 2nd and 3rd shift positions.
• Paid Time Off Enjoy paid vacation and holidays to support work-life balance.
• 401(k) with Company Match Plan for your future with our generous retirement savings program.
• Tuition Reimbursement Continue your education with financial support for approved programs.
• Access to The Source Get connected to community resources, support services, and more.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Confidential support for personal, family, or work-related issues.
• Comprehensive Benefits Plan Includes Medical, Dental, Vision, Critical Illness, Flexible Spending Accounts, Dependent Care, and Accident Insurance.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage commercialization activities: converting lab/bench-top formulas to manufacturing scale.
• Support customer interactions with professional, credible, and innovative ideas.
• Collaborate across departments: sales, marketing, procurement, quality, and plant production.
• Lead and support Innovation, R&D Ops, and Technology Teams.
• Research and develop processes, ingredients, and packaging concepts for new products.
• Maintain R&D formulation files, nutritional databases, and product information systems (Labelcalc).
• Manage the sample request process (scheduling, generation, packaging, shipping).
• Implement customer requests in formal portals (PLM, SafetyChain, Tracegains, Repositrak, Rizepoint, etc.).
• Ensure new products are designed for food quality and food safety using Quality Systems approaches.
• Align with engineering to research and identify needed equipment for process improvements.
• Collaborate with purchasing to manage ingredient supply and substitutions.
• Support sales by meeting with customers and presenting R&D innovations.
• Contribute to food safety assessments and sensory panel testing.
• Create recipes and formulations; solve production-related issues with creativity and innovation.
• Study flavor science and ingredient functionality to advance product development.
• Promote and uphold a culture of food safety and quality.

Requirements

 We believe a successful R&D Manager will have the following qualifications:

Education / Certificates / Licenses / Experience

•  Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science (required). 
• Food Safety Training (preferred).
• Minimum 7 years in Product Development or related discipline. 
• R&D or culinary experience required.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong knowledge of food science, culinary science, and flavor applications.
• Broad process and equipment knowledge for scaling up lab formulations.
• Familiarity with ingredient functions, inventory management, and substitutions.
• Proficiency with R&D and food industry systems (Labelcalc, PLM, SafetyChain, Tracegains, Repositrak, Rizepoint).
• Understanding of cGMPs, food quality, and food safety practices.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and maintain detailed formulation/n