Director, Product Development at Constellation Brands in Acampo, California

Job Description:

Job Description

Position Summary

CBI is a Bold and innovative consumer-obsessed organization that seeks out disruptive new ideas and constantly searches for what’s next.

With this in mind, the Director of Product Development will be responsible for running our Total Beverage Alcohol R&D lab and will lead the team responsible for driving new product development for formulated wine, spirits, beer and emerging alcohol beverage categories.    This person will be a hands driver of our new product development processes including prototype development, direct formulation trials, consumer research, stability testing, regulatory reviews, and critical parameter metrics for implementation in production operations. 

This person will also serve as an authoritative product development expert and collaborate closely with operations, procurement, marketing, regulatory, and commercial, ventures groups. 

Responsibilities

Technical/New Product Development Activities

• Lead the formulation, prototype development, shelf-life testing, and transition for scale up of new products in the area of flavored wines +spirits, beer, seltzers, RTD cocktails and emerging categories


• Manage a team of food scientists and the laboratory space and equipment used to develop new products


• Communicate with other departments supporting new product development and serve as technical lead in category business team meetings.


• Work in close collaboration with other R&D sites to share best practices and to tap into expertise across the organization


• Take a pro-active role in the maintenance and improvement of products based on sensory and/or consumer feedback.


• Collaborate with Marketing and innovation teams to determine appropriate product profile and target specifications.


• Interact with Winemaking, Distillers, Innovation and Emerging Categories to determine the appropriate base material(s) to use for prototype products based on project specifications, availability and tax savings opportunities (spirits).


• Cultivate relationships with key flavor and ingredient suppliers and academic institutions so that a steady source of innovative and appropriate ingredients and technologies are available for NPD initiatives.


• Monitor trends in the beverage alcohol and associated industries,  and collaborate with Insights on collation and distribution of a “Trends” report.

Regulatory Activities

• Collaborate with the Legal department to ensure compliance and thorough understanding of product development possibilities for new innovation initiatives when necessary.


• Support product formula filings with TTB and develop accurate FDA labels for applicable products


• Conduct and/or coordinate internal training as required.


• Participate in FIVS technical committee activities as pertinent to maintain a corporate presence as it pertains to winemaking, enology and viticulture.


• Participate in IWTF (International Wine Technical Forum) activities to stay abreast of inter-governmental activities that may impact our business activities globally.  Collaborate with VP Wine Technical Services and Legal to ensure agreement.


• TTB Activities – responsible for filing/coordinating necessary formulas for wine, spirits and beer products at the appropriate locations to ensure compliance for production as well as sales sample shipments. Ensure legal requirements are met for formulas and COLAs if applicable for consumer research and sales samples.


• FDA Activities – coordinate testing and suggested labeling formats for wine and beer products as required.


• International Activities – collaborate with Customer Service and Operations to prepare documentation necessary for international shipments.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Food Science required


• 7+ years in product development for the consumer product industry


• Minimum 5 years of management experience with a proven track record of successfully developing, mentoring, and coaching teams to drive clarity in times of ambiguity and complexity


• Strong word processing, spreadsheet, database management abilities


• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written


• The ability to multi-task and maintain a professional demeanor working with internal and external customers


• Drive technical rigour within teams with an expert understanding of ingredient interactions/functionality and asking ‘why not’ and ‘what would it take’?.


• Goal oriented individual with executional excellence and inter-personal leadership. Highly motivated problem solver with a clear track record of results to deliver objectives in a complex environment.


• Ability to plan, put together well thought out resource models to build effective teams for headcount and skill set.


• Exceptional people manager who looks to win as a team and coaches teams to anticipate next steps and incorporate course corrections when hurdles appear.


• Strong attention to details


• A desire to learn new skills in the area of laboratory management, sensory evaluation, product development, etc.


• This individual will embrace a changing, challenging environment, and be comfortable working with outside suppliers, academic professionals and internal departments. 


• This individual must be a self-starter, with the ability to recognize priorities and complete tasks on a timely basis.


• Flexibility in the work schedule may be required to accomplish the tasks at hand. 


• This employee must be innovative and results oriented

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD in Food Science preferred


• This individual will be available to lecture as requested to internal and external stakeholders

Physical Requirements/Work Environment

• Must be at least 21 years of age. Must be able to sit and/or stand for long periods of time and work on a computer for extended periods. Lifting may be required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.


• Work Environment:
  
  
  • Works outdoors/indoors
  
  
  • Works in warm/cold climates
  
  
  • Works in high places
  
  
  • Works on wet surfaces
  
  
  • Is exposed to loud noise, fumes and/or toxic chemicals
  
  
  • Works near moving, mechanical parts and lift truck traffic
  
  
  • Must be able to move up to 55 lbs
  
  
  • Primary office environment may be warehouse/distribution setting
  
  
  
  


• Travel required approximately 25% of the time

Location

Additional Locations

Job Type

Job Area

Equal Opportunity

Constellation Brands is committed to a continuing program of equal employment opportunity. All persons have equal employment opportunities with Constellation Brands, regardless of their sex, race, color, age, religion, creed, sexual orientation, national origin or citizenship, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition (cancer or genetic characteristics), marital status, gender (including gender identity or gender expression), familial status, military or veteran status, genetic information, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related conditions (or any other group or category within the framework of the applicable discrimination laws and regulations).