Manager, R&D – Sensory Capabilities Lab

Job Purpose  

​​The Sensory Capabilities Lab Manager serves as a technical lead for sensory science within the North American Zone. This role provides expert sensory guidance, fostering a collaborative environment where scientific data drives product excellence. As a leader in the Sensory CoE, you will focus on growing and mentoring a talented team of sensory support staff. Your goal is to provide the R&D organization with onsite sensory testing capabilities to deliver descriptive analysis, discrimination testing and internal employee evaluations that leverage both executional expertise and digital tools to ensure our products are consistently best-in-class.​  

Essential Functions & Responsibilities  

• ​​Team Development & Sensory Support Leadership 

• ​Lead the growth and professional development of the sensory support team. Provide advanced technical mentorship to sensory technicians and associate scientists—coaching with methodological design, protocol execution, data hygiene, and LIMS use.  Support hiring, onboarding, training, and performance management as the organization scales.  

• ​Foster a team environment rooted in cross-functional partnership, ensuring the sensory team is seen as an accessible and vital resource for the broader R&D community. Act as the primary liaison between executive leadership and the Sensory lab team to ensure team feel strong sense of belonging and have clear understanding of how they impact high level company goals. 

• ​Provide thoughtful management of sensory lab resources and budgets, ensuring the team has the necessary tools to provide high-quality panel execution and align lab capacity with business priorities.  Set clear expectations and ensure accountability across projects. 

• ​Panel Management & Executional Excellence 

• ​Own planning, timelines and execution across a high volume of simultaneous initiatives supporting Sensory testing and Cooking Validation for the NA zone. Partner with Sr, Sensory Manager to ensure excellence in serving protocols and data management including day-to-day execution oversight to ensure consistent, high-quality data collection. 

• ​Act as the primary consultant to R&D project teams on experimental design, panel selection criteria, serving protocols and data quality controls to ensure scientific integrity and reproducibility. 

• ​Facilitate the adoption of best practices in sensory science across the zone.  Lead technical reviews of sensory methodologies, recommending methodological improvements and ensuring alignment with industry best practices and the Global Sensory Excellence network.  Implement and enforce standard operating procedures for panel operations, including protocols for blinding, sample handling, and FSQ product release control. 

• ​Data systems, analytics workflow & digital integration 

• ​Lead technical implementation and day-to-day use of sensory LIMS and digital tools (e.g., RedJade or similar) to capture, manage and protect sensory data. 

• ​Partner with internal IT and external sensory software providers to maintain agile, secure data collection capabilities and to adapt digital solutions for new sensory methodologies. 

• ​Optimize data management practices to facilitate digital integration: data capture, version control, metadata standards, and collaboration with the analysis teams.  

• ​Facility and Budget Management 

• ​Own budgetary control for the sensory team: process POs, approvals and receiving; monitor monthly variance from plan and communicate with R&D finance. 

• ​Work closely with sensory support team and internal facilities to maintain lab spaces, equipment and supplies to meet the testing needs of the team in the Sensory Evaluation Centers in Glenview, Il and Warrendale, PA and Cooking Validation Lab in Warrendale, PA. 

• ​Represent the North American CoE within the Global Sensory Excellence network, contributing to a global community of practice and staying informed on emerging sensory trends and technologies that will improve executional efficiency. 

• ​Manage vendor relationships for software, equipment, and panel services; negotiate and evaluate technical performance of external partners.​ 

Expected Experience & Required Skills 

• ​​Minimum BS in Food Science or Physical Science. MS in Sensory Science is plus to support the technical mentorship requirements of the role. 

• ​6+ years of dedicated experience in Sensory Science, Sensory Research or Consumer Research within an FMCG/CPG environment (Food & Beverage preferred). 

• ​Proven experience managing lab operations, budgets, vendor relationships and coordinating with IT and external partners. 

• ​A proven ability to grow, mentor, and inspire technical teams while fostering a collaborative team spirit. 

• ​Exceptional communication skills with a focus on translating operational objectives into technical action plans to deliver results. 

• ​Demonstrated technical proficiency with sensory methodologies (specifically QDA) and with sensory LIMS/tools such as RedJade or equivalent integration with digital tools 

• ​Possess the ability to influence and guide others through expertise and partnership rather than mandate; a "people-first" approach to leading technical teams. 

• ​Have a proactive mindset focused on evolving processes and adopting new technologies. The ability to lead a team through transitions, such as digital integration or methodology shifts, while maintaining high morale and operational excellence. 

• ​Ability to see the "big picture" and ensure sensory executional activities are aligned with the long-term goals of the R&D organization. 

• ​A steadfast commitment to providing exceptional executional accuracy, that the organization can rely on for critical product and business decisions. 

• ​Exceptional skills in working with internal R&D teams and external partners​ 

Work Environment & Schedule 

This position operates primarily in a hybrid work environment and is based at the Kraft Heinz R&D Innovation Center located in Glenview, IL. Our hybrid model provides flexibility based on business needs, allowing employees to work virtually up to two days per week, with an expectation to work on-site at least three days per week at the Glenview Innovation Center (Chicago, IL).  

This job description is not designed to cover or contain all duties or responsibilities that are required of the role. Duties or responsibilities may change or be added with or without notice.