Associate Innovation & QA Leader

Dubai, UAE

Ref: HP647-2761

Job description / Role

Employment: Full Time

Purpose:
Clients Packaged Foods delivers this purpose in Middle East through a network of different customers, ranging from Retail to Industry to Food Service to distributors, which deliver our products to our consumers.

The Associate Innovation Project Leader is responsible for supporting the Innovation Project Leader in delivering innovation that will contribute to volume growth in all potential channels and that will help us realize our mission of providing access to health and nutrition for more than one billion people.

All our innovations are based on two principles:
• Increasing access to nutrition and reducing waste of nutrition.
• We promise to use zero processed sugar, have zero fruit loss in 2024 and zero plastic as per 2025.
• The innovation funnel will include a combination of ‘core’ projects and those exploring new categories, consumers and channels.

Primary Accountabilities:
• Support the Innovation Project Leader in the delivery of the innovation pipeline in partnership with across-functional team
• Assess and audit 3rd party manufacturing facilities that will either develop (ODMs) or manufacture (OEMs) products.
• Ensure existing and new products are of the highest quality, meet Clients standards (both from a shelf- life/nutrition & quality standard) and are legally compliant – and meet consumer & customer expectations as defined in the product development brief
• Working Knowledge in track-and-trace labelling, defining ingredient labels (in particular “clean” labelling, allergen labelling etc
• Support the Customer Services team in trouble-shooting/resolving quality assurances issues (10% of the total job)
• Other duties as assigned.

Key Success Measures:
• 2-4 years experience in R&D/Innovation/product development/QA or similar roles in the

Working Knowledge of the following areas:
• Product development (formulating, ingredient selection, stability testing, etc.)
• Specification writing and management (formulation/packaging)
• Process development (manufacturing capabilities/technologies, equipment selection, contract manufacturing)
• Industry standard quality assurance systems (e.g. GMP, HACCP, GFSI)
• Proven track record in delivery and implementation of innovation into the marketplace.
• Able to work cross-functionally and also across an enterprise – coordinating with factories and co-packers, marketing managers, sales team, supply chain and customer services teams to deliver an innovation pipeline

Requirements

What You’ll Need to Succeed:
• Passionate about a purpose driven career in nutrition and wellness
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to build and maintain strong working relationships
• Robust time management skills, ability to prioritize and meet deadlines
• Ability to identify realistic solutions, solve issues efficiently and in a timely manner
• Technically curious and driven by finding creative solutions to deliver innovations and problem solving
• Able to work effectively in a networked, fluid and agile environment, with multiple stakeholders
• Strong innovation and entrepreneurial mindset, demonstrated through being a self-starter
• Working knowledge of project management and organizational skills – proven ability to manage multiple projects, prioritise and manage complexity effectively

Personality Traits / Values:
• Adaptability: adapt to changing environments and overcome challenges ; feel comfortable working with a certain degree of ambiguity and in a fluid and agile environment
• Analytical thinking : able to synthesize large volumes of data to solves problems efficiently
• Organisation: able to balance your time, energy, resilience and mental capacity to deliver effectively and efficiently the innovation goals.

Education & Certification:
• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Engineering or science-based equivalent is required
• Fluent in English
• Some travel required

About the Company

We lead in the creation and delivery of innovative workforce solutions and services that enable our clients to win in the changing world of work.

ManpowerGroup powers the success of many of the world's most dynamic organizations. We deliver innovative workforce solutions that enhance competitiveness, increase efficiency and spur productivity. Combining global reach with local expertise - 3600 offices in over 80 countries - we know the changing world of work and bring a deep understanding of the companies we work for and the industries we service.

ManpowerGroup entered the Middle East in December 2007 after acquiring local company Clarendon Parker, thus bringing 15 years in-depth local knowledge combined with a global footprint and industry shaping expertise and thought leadership. Manpower Middle East supports clients in the Middle East and North Africa regions. Our business is aligned to key skill specializations to ensure our clients requirements are met by expert and knowledgeable consultants that understand your industry and role requirement.

Our consultants are experts in finding the right talent across all industries in a broad-range of occupations including: