The position is responsible for leading the development, execution, and/or deployment of product innovation/renovation within our Wet portfolio to enable the successful delivery of the North American Mars Pet Nutrition operating plan. This position will work strategically and cross-functionally to provide formulation and technical support for Inno/Reno, lead new product development and raw material development while maintaining quality design and delivering desired product performance to both the consumer and pet. This role may interface with the global innovations teams to provide understanding of the NA OE capabilities in collaboration with NA Process & Packaging, and support deployment of global projects.

What are we looking for?

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Food Science, Technology, Engineering, or related technical field. 

• Graduate degree in Food Science, Technology, Engineering, or Business Administration would be a plus. 

• 4 + years of experience in Product Development and/or Formulation within a CPG company.  

• Pet food experience is a plus. 

• Strong knowledge of product development from bench top to full scale production. 

• Prior experience must include design of experiments and functionality of raw materials. Statistical analysis knowledge is a plus. 

• Demonstrated excellence in project management and capability to lead cross functional projects. Stage gate process experience is a plus. 

• Strong ability to work cross functionally with people in other disciplines and/or business areas. 

What will be your key responsibilities?

• Support Innovation & Renovation projects by providing recipes and formulation support enabling the delivery of product performance targets and attributes.  

• Lead R&D in the translation of consumer insights into product design. 

• Support the development and implementation of recipes and raw materials in the factory consistent with business processes and company standards. 

• Formulate for innovation/renovation projects, meeting internal (MPENS) & external (AAFCO) nutritional guidelines, and ensuring product safety criteria with site deployment. 

• Formulate products meeting specified design attributes and quality targets at launch. 

• Design product briefs in close collaboration with R&D and cross-functional partners (Process, Packaging, CTI, Marketing, Sales, Supply, etc.) 

• Define technical learning plans in collaboration with R&D partners (Process, Packaging, CTI, SRA, Q&FS, etc.) that then feed the design of project timelines owned by Project Management. 

• Drives execution of technical learning plans in close collaboration with Process, Packaging, Q&FS, Supply & Commercial. 

• Use appropriate tools to facilitate concept and prototype creation & evaluation. 

• Ensures R&D voice is represented in the risk assessment of the innovation/renovation stage/gate process (QuEST). 

• Ensures product performance validation for innovation/renovation projects. 

• Ensures shelf-life validation for innovation/renovation projects that deviate from existing technical foundation for shelf-life. 

• Delivers product frameworks, recipe frameworks, and finished product specifications for innovation/renovation projects. 

• Follow corporate labeling and claim policy. 

• As needed, partners with Product Formulation – CB (Current Business) to define gap closure strategies for PPP (Pet Product Performance) outages when root cause goes beyond existing framework. 

What can you expect from Mars?

• Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by the Five Principles.

• Join a purpose driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.

• A strong focus on learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.

• An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.

#LI-GK24

#LI-Onsite