R&D Manager - Proteins

R&D Manager – Proteins

Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny

About Tirlán

Tirlán, formerly known as Glanbia Ireland, is a world-class food and nutrition co-operative, with a diverse portfolio of quality ingredients, leading consumer and agri brands.

A talented team of over 2,100 people manage Tirlán’s network of 11 production facilities and 52 agri retail outlets serving its communities with annual revenues of over €3 billion expected in 2022. Tirlán’s state-of-the-art headquarters in Kilkenny city and innovation centre in Ballyragget promote innovation, creativity and collaboration. Tirlán is committed to sustainability throughout the organisation through its comprehensive Living Proof programme, and the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) contained within it. For more information visit www.tirlan.com

Role Summary

A vacancy has arisen within the R&D Department at Tirlán for an R&D Manager in the Fortified Beverage, Protein and UHT Cream area.  Reporting to the Head of Dairy & Applications, this role will be responsible for new product development for ingredients and consumers for supply into the retail, foodservice and manufacturing sectors. The successful candidate will manage a team of technologists and have a strong day to day relationship with the Tirlán Commercial, Marketing, Operations (including third party manufacturers) and Quality teams. The role will manage new product development, provide technical support and be responsible for the development of technical capability in these areas.

Key Responsibilities

• To develop and manage a team of technologists to underpin and enhance the Tirlán product offering and technical understanding;
• To manage the technical activities of the protein, fortified beverage and cream new product development pipeline – from ideation to launch as part of cross functional teams;
• To co-create with Marketing and Commercial to develop the portfolio
• To liaise closely with Commercial, Operations and Third-Party Manufacturers to successfully commercialise new products to market;
• To collaborate with internal cross functional teams as part of supplier relationship management to key customers, and to act as customers champion across technical platforms & internal processes;
• Provide technical input to Tirlán product strategy development;
• To interface with customers and visit/understand markets on a technical level to identify key functional and nutritional product requirements, and to assess and manage development of recipes and specifications;
• To problem solve technical production, product application/quality, or consistency issues.

Key Requirements

• 10 + years industry experience in product development in the food industry;
• Science based qualification (preferably to postgraduate);
• Experience in dairy chemistry;
• Writing technical dossiers and the translation of the science into recommendations for the business;
• Ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams;
• Excellent communication skills particularly in technical arena for interaction at all levels;
• Demonstrate strong commercial awareness.
• Experience in beverage product development (desirable).

Competencies

• Customer Focus;
• Results orientated;
• Functional / Technical Skills;
• Written Communications;
• Building Effective Teams;
• Strategic Agility;
• Presentation Skills;
• Ability to deal with ambiguity.

Join our Talent Pool

Considering a new career in Tirlán but this isn’t the role for you?! Then why not register your experience & sign up for career opportunities at www.tirlan.com/careers.

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

Tirlán embraces diversity, equal opportunity and inclusion. We are committed to building diverse teams where different perspectives drive innovation and growth. We strive to create an inclusive workplace where people can bring their true self to work and achieve their full potential.

At Tirlán, we celebrate diversity, because we know that our individual strengths make us stronger together. We welcome and encourage interest from a wide variety of candidates, and we will give your application consideration, without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, or disability status. 

At Tirlán our culture will celebrate individuality, knowing that together we are more.

Tirlán owns leading consumer and agri brands such as Avonmore, Kilmeaden Cheese, Millac, Solmiko, Truly Grass Fed, Premier Milk, Wexford, mymilkman.ie and GAIN Animal Nutrition. 

About us

The farmer-owned co-operative has a first-class track record of success in the global market. Rooted in a rich heritage of family farming and embedded in its communities, Tirlán has evolved to bring the passion of its farmers and their high-quality milk and grains to the international marketplace. Using modern-day technology and applying the best processes to its milk pool of three billion litres and its premium grains portfolio, Tirlán now exports to more than 80 countries.  Its award-winning brands are household names in Ireland, and include Ireland’s number one consumer dairy brand, Avonmore.

The organisation draws on a wealth of experience to deliver exceptional products and tailored nutritional solutions including Kilmeaden, Wexford, Truly Grass Fed, Solmiko, CheddMax and GAIN. Tirlán has a strong market presence in the UK, France, Germany, UAE, the US, North Africa, Japan and China.

Tirlán is a Values Based Organisation - www.tirlan.com