Product Development Manager-Must have Food Science Background at ATX Specialty Foods – Kyle, Texas

Product Development Manager

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Position Overview

The Manager of Product Development leads all product innovation, formulation, and commercialization efforts for ATX Specialty Foods. This role oversees the full product development lifecycle—from concept through scale-up—and serves as the technical bridge between culinary creativity, customer collaboration, and manufacturing execution.

The Manager will manage and mentor the R&D Assistant, maintain the company’s master batch files and formulations, and partner closely with both Sales and Operations to ensure products are developed for consistency, quality, and scalability.

This individual will also support the sales process as a technical sales partner, providing formulation expertise and culinary insight directly to customer culinary and R&D teams.

This is a hands-on leadership role requiring strong culinary and commercialization experience, deep understanding of ingredients and food science, and the ability to translate restaurant recipes and processes into efficient, scalable manufacturing systems.

Reports to: Vice President of Sales

Works closely with: Operations, Quality Assurance, Procurement, and Customer Culinary Teams

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Management

• Oversee all product development projects from concept to commercialization, ensuring timelines, quality, and customer expectations are met.
• Manage, train, and develop the R&D Assistant to support benchtop development, documentation, and sample preparation.
• Maintain and own the Master Batch File, ensuring accuracy, version control, and production readiness.
• Lead cross-functional communication between Sales, Operations, QA, and Production during development and scale-up phases.

Product Development & Commercialization

• Formulate new products and match existing customer products using culinary expertise, ingredient knowledge, and processing understanding.
• Translate restaurant or kitchen-scale recipes into efficient, cost-effective, and repeatable manufacturing formulas.
• Develop and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs) for R&D and ensure proper documentation of all formulations and revisions.
• Partner with QA to ensure product safety, shelf-life, and compliance with food regulations and customer requirements.
• Support scale-up and plant trials; oversee first production runs to ensure successful transition from lab to line.

Customer & Sales Support

• Serve as a technical resource for the Sales team during customer presentations, R&D meetings, and plant tours.
• Collaborate directly with customers’ culinary and R&D teams to develop or match sauces, dressings, condiments, and other food products.
• Provide ingredient and formulation education to internal teams and customers as needed.

Training & Education

• Support Operations and Production by training teams on product attributes, ingredient functionality, and formulation processes.
• Partner with QA to drive understanding of formulation-based problem solving on the plant floor.

Qualifications

Required:

• Minimum 10 years of experience in food manufacturing, culinary R&D, or product development (preferably sauces, dressings, or condiments).
• Proven track record of taking products from concept to commercialization in a manufacturing environment.
• Strong understanding of ingredient functionality, food processing methods, and product formulation.
• Experience converting restaurant or culinary recipes into scalable manufacturing formulas.
• Culinary background with exposure to food science principles (texture, flavor, emulsification, preservation, etc.).
• Strong project management and documentation skills.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across functions and with customers.

Preferred:

• Degree in Food Science, Culinary Science, or related field.
• Experience in FDA or SQF-certified facilities.
• Prior leadership or team management experience.

Key Attributes

• Culinary creativity with technical precision
• Hands-on, collaborative leadership style
• Strong sense of urgency and accountability
• Customer-first mindset
• Detail-oriented and process-driven