Formula Governance Manager

The Formula Governance Manager is a technical leader responsible for ensuring the integrity, compliance, and efficiency of product formulation processes across the organization. This role plays a pivotal part in enabling innovation, safeguarding regulatory compliance, and optimizing digital systems that support formula governance. This role not only ensures compliance and efficiency but also leverages advanced data models and process automation to optimize approval workflows, enhance product development collaboration, and enable predictive risk management. With deep expertise in approval workflows, this role focuses on driving operational excellence through robust governance practices, digital tool development, and continuous process improvement. 

Key Responsibilities 

Governance & Compliance 

• Ensure all formulas and ingredients comply with applicable food regulations and internal company policies. 

• Lead the review and validation of Product Approval Requests (PARs), ensuring accuracy, completeness, and alignment with regulatory and business requirements. 

• Serve as the technical authority on formula governance policies, ingredient composition, and proprietary data protection to make sure we release formula and ingredient specifications with high quality standards. 

• Implement dashboards that merge formula governance metrics with supply chain, R&D, and market data for 360-degree operational insights. 

• Oversee pilot programs for AI-enabled digital twins that simulate product formulations under various regulatory and ingredient scenarios. 

Technical Leadership in Product Development 

• Provide expert guidance to R&D, commercialization, and regulatory teams on formulation strategies and approval processes but also in formula develpment. 

• Provide technical support on product development to new associates when there are gaps in product development impacting formula governance processes. 

• Support innovation pipelines by enabling timely formula authorizations and migrations aligned with business goals. 

• Collaborate with technical teams to troubleshoot formulation issues and ensure successful product launches. 

Digital Tools & Systems Optimization 

• Drive enhancements to proprietary systems (e.g., PICASSO and KOcreate) used for formula documentation and approval workflows. 

• Support the development and implementation of new digital tools associated with product development that connects with formula approval processes. 

• Partner with IT and corporate governance teams to implement system upgrades and ensure data integrity. 

Documentation & Data Management 

• Oversee the input, evaluation, and maintenance of ingredient and formulation data in internal databases. 

• Ensure consistency, accuracy, and traceability of formula documentation across systems. 

• Collaborate with data scientists and IT teams to enhance proprietary formula management systems (PICASSO) with predictive analytics dashboards. 

• Create and develop digital tools, guidelines, and training materials to support formula governance processes. 

Cross-functional Collaboration 

• Act as a liaison between R&D, SRA, QA, Supply Chain, and Innovation teams to ensure alignment on formula governance requirements. 

• Provide training and support on systems, policies, and procedures to internal stakeholders. 

• Represent formula governance in strategic forums and contribute to cross-functional initiatives. 

Required Qualifications 

Education 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science, Chemistry, Biology, or a related scientific field. Advanced degree preferred. 

Experience 

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in R&D, CPS, regulatory affairs, product development, or formula governance within the food or beverage industry. 

• Strong background in managing approval processes and working with digital systems for technical data. 

Preferred Skills & Competencies 

Technical Expertise 

• Advanced knowledge of formulation systems (e.g., PICASSO) and governance workflows. 

• Strong understanding of regulatory frameworks, ingredient composition, and proprietary data protection. 

• Proficiency and experience in digital tools, data management platforms, and basic statistical analysis. 

Problem-Solving & Innovation 

• High learning agility with the ability to analyze complex problems and implement creative, compliant solutions. 

• Experience with analytical tools such as R, Python, Tableau, or Power BI. 

Management and Soft Skills: 

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, capable of translating technical concepts for diverse audiences. 

• Effective collaborator across technical and commercial functions, with a proactive and solution-oriented mindset. 

• Learning agility.  Demonstrate ability to learn fast and rapidly analyze and adapt to new situations/problems providing creative solutions.    

• Good written and oral communication skills. Able to contribute knowledge and insights to discussions both internally with the department and with associates from other departments and functions as well as main customers and suppliers.  

• Attention to detail is an important skill for this role. 

Why Join Us? 

This role offers the opportunity to lead technical governance in a dynamic, innovation-driven environment. You’ll shape the future of product development by ensuring regulatory integrity, enabling efficient approval processes, and driving digital transformation in formula governance.