Manager, Product Development, Technical Lead

Are You Ready to Make It Happen at Mondelēz International?

Join our Mission to Lead the Future of Snacking. Make It With Pride.

Leading key workstreams as well as a team of RDQ professionals in product development, you identify and prioritize development activities. You lead teams that deliver RDQ activities needed to complete new product development, and that maintain portfolios and/or productivity projects, keeping in mind the goal to create the desired consumer experience.

How you will contribute

You will work with a cross-functional partners to define, initiate and lead teams to successfully deliver business goals using technical rigor and best practices while effectively allocating resources and prioritizing workloads. Influencing skills are important in this role because you will use them to educate business stakeholders about technical risks, ensuring clear communication and understanding to allow for effective cross-functional decision making. You will also create and maintain accurate consumer-led specifications. As a technical and people leader, you demonstrate your own high levels of technical rigor and expertise and that of your team by tapping into internal and external resources to stay up-to-date on the latest best practices and to continuously identify opportunities for improvement, keeping in mind consumers’ wants and needs. As a people leader, you recruit, retain and develop a team of direct and indirect reports to ensure highest team performance, and mentor and coach your team and others to grow capability and support career development.

What you will bring

A desire to drive your future and accelerate your career and the following experience and knowledge:

• Leading teams and coaching and mentoring to foster performance and team effectiveness
• Influencing cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders in decision making
• Delivering results in a fast paced, complex and ambiguous environment
• Handling multiple priorities
• Being a champion of consumer needs
• Succeeding in a fast-moving consumer goods environment

What you need to know about this position:

R&D Manager in cross category team driving the SSA BU technical brand agenda spanning across the numerous countries within the BU

What extra ingredients you will bring:

Strong technical and leadership experience across South Africa and Southern African countries. A deep sense of the consumer diversity and approach to Innovation and driving growth through the markets. Excellent networking & collaboration skills enabling the successful implementation and growth agenda.

Education / Certifications:

• Degree in Food Science/ Chemical Engineering / Microbiology as a minimum

Job specific requirements:

• 10 -15 years’ experience in product development & people management
• Strong technical skills including new line start-up & or technology implementations in FMCG’s.
• Experience in Beverage / Gum & Candy / Biscuit / Chocolate categories will be advantageous.
• Driving growth agenda through NPDs, Productivity, Brand Quality, Innovation Pipeline Development in a Consumer Led environment.

Travel requirements:

Travel into and across the SSA BU: (South Africa, West Africa and Central East Africa) as well as international travel (AMEA Region, & Global) when needed.

No Relocation support available

Business Unit Summary

Mondelēz International’s Sub Saharan Africa Business Unit is made up of three key focus areas namely Southern Africa, West Africa and the Rest of Africa Markets.  The Business Unit is home to approximately 1000 Makers and Bakers who strive to bring only the best quality and loved brands to our consumers. Mondelēz International in Sub Saharan Africa is proud to house global legacy brands including Cadbury Dairy Milk, Oreo, Halls and Bournvita, together with local jewels such as Cadbury LunchBar, Chappies, TomTom and Dentyne.  The Business Unit’s Markets have consistently been awarded Top Employer certification, and has been recognised as a Top Employer in Africa.

Mondelēz International is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Job Type

RegularProduct developmentScience & Engineering