Sr Director of Product Development
1 week ago
Location: Corporate - Tyler, TX
Department: Product Development
Reports To: Head of FSQA & Product Development
Direct Reports: Culinary Innovation Director, Director of R&D (2), Corporate Specification and Labels Manager
Travel: 20-30%
Overview of Company
John Soules Foods is a thriving family-owned food company that has made a positive difference for its customers and consumers for nearly 50 years. Our purpose and promise of Great Food, Made Simple® drives us. Based in Tyler, Texas, the company is a leading national producer of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook chicken and beef products and is the number one producer of chicken and beef fajitas in the USA. We proudly serve a broad portfolio of great-tasting, high-quality grilled and breaded products sold throughout the US via retail, food service distributors, and restaurants. Our wide array of national customers includes prominent organizations such as Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club, Sysco, and HEB. The company was established in 1975 by John Soules Sr., and the business is now in the second generation of family leadership. The organization has expanded dramatically over the past decade, and with its continued growth, it now has annual sales of approximately $1 billion. The company employs over 2,000 individuals and has three manufacturing facilities in Gainesville, Georgia; Valley, Alabama; and its headquarters in Tyler, Texas.
Job Summary:
The Senior Director of Product Development leads end-to-end innovation and commercialization for our ready-to-eat grilled poultry and beef and breaded poultry portfolio. This role is responsible for Culinary Innovation, R&D, and Specifications & Labels-steering pipeline strategy, technical feasibility, and compliant execution from concept through launch. The role sets direction for concept creation, technical feasibility, process design, optimization, and launch execution, ensuring excellence from first idea to first production and beyond. This high visibility role partners cross-functionally with Operations, Sales, Marketing, Food Safety/Quality Assurance (FSQA), Supply Chain, and Finance to deliver innovative, scalable, margin-accretive products that win with customers and consumers.
Education
- BS/BA in Food Science, Meat Science, Culinary Arts, Chemical Engineering, or related field required; MS/MBA preferred.
• 12-15+ years in Product Development for poultry/meat or refrigerated/ready-to-eat foods; 7+ years in director level leadership roles. Poultry/meat strongly preferred.
- Deep knowledge of RTE poultry/meat processing (marination, tumbling, cooking, chilling, slicing, breading, packaging-MAP/Vacuum, shelf life, etc.). Additional experience with sauces, starches, and vegetables preferred.
- Proven success delivering consumer-validated innovation from ideation through scale-up and commercialization.
- Proven track record launching at scale with OTIF discipline and achieving margin/COGS targets.
- Exceptional cross-functional collaboration, executive communication, and stakeholder management.
- Strong financial acumen (cost modeling, yield/throughput impacts, and P&L considerations).
- Proven experience in leading and managing teams, with responsibility for strategic planning, team development, and performance management.
- Analytical aptitude for data analysis and sensory science; ability to set targets and interpret consumer testing outcomes.
- Strong grasp of USDA-FSIS regulatory requirements (labels, claims, standards of identity), HACCP, allergen control, and GFSI schemes.
- Proficiency with PLM/ERP systems (e.g., SpecRight/TraceGains/M3), formulation and spec management, and labeling workflows.
- Innovation Leadership & Portfolio Management:
- Partner to develop the company's innovation vision for ready-to-eat proteins, balancing culinary trends, unmet customer needs, commercialization feasibility, and plant capability.
- Translate market, culinary, and customer insights into a prioritized innovation pipeline and renovation agenda (quality upgrades, reformulations, cost/value engineering).
- Partner with Sales and Marketing to translate insights into innovation briefs, ensuring concepts are differentiated and grounded in consumer and operator interest/appeal.
- Champion a consumer-first, customer-centric mindset-linking culinary trends and sensory performance to commercial outcomes.
- Lead the full lifecycle of product development-from ideation, benchtop prototyping, and culinary gold standards through scale-up, plant validation, and launch readiness.
- Create and enforce standardized process development frameworks, ensuring every new product has defined process parameters, critical control points, technical specifications, and yield expectations.
- Direct resource allocation to align with organizational prioritization and customer timelines to ensure on-time project completion.
- Oversee thermal process development (lethality, chilling, shelf life) and collaborate with FSQA to align with regulatory and food safety requirements.
- Champion "design for manufacturability"-ensuring plant capabilities, equipment constraints, and throughput objectives are integrated early in development.
- Set and track commercialization KPIs such as time-to-market, spec completeness, yield targets, and first-run success.
- Partner with Operations on line trials, yield improvements, OEE considerations, and post-launch optimization to ensure products perform consistently at scale.
- Lead a top-tier culinary team to drive rapid prototyping, chef-driven ideation, and trend scouting; oversee gold-standard development and commercialization handoffs to R&D.
- Establish sensory targets and culinary guardrails; embed structured tasting protocols, benchmarking, and product scorecards.
- Connect culinary creativity to grounded feasibility-ensuring innovation is both bold and operationally executable.
- Guide culinary direction for flavors, formats, and eating experiences in ready-to-eat proteins (e.g., marination, smoking, cooking profiles, saucing, coatings).
- Own feasibility, formulation, thermal processing parameters, shelf life, and manufacturability across RTE poultry and beef SKUs.
- Lead development of robust process instructions, including marination systems, breading systems, cook profiles, and packaging parameters.
- Partner with Operations to develop comprehensive specs, optimize yields and throughput, and resolve technical issues during scale-up and sustained run.
- Drive complexity reduction, renovation, and continuous improvement through specification and formula optimization.
- Ensure scientific rigor through structured experimentation, data-driven decision making, and validated process controls.
- Identify and explore new research opportunities, partnerships, and technologies that can lead to breakthrough products or processes.
- Oversee creation and maintenance of specifications, technical data, ingredients, nutrition facts, and compliant USDA-FSIS labels.
- Develop and drive process integrity to ensure label accuracy, claim substantiation, version control, and change management excellence for every launch and revision.
- Govern technical specifications and master data (ingredients, finished goods, allergens, nutrition, claims, etc.) across PLM/ERP systems.
- Serve as the escalation point for regulatory reviews (USDA-FSIS oversight for meat/poultry, FDA where applicable), label approvals, and audit readiness.
6. Cross-Functional Partnership
- Drive high discipline in stage-gate governance, ensuring clear documentation, aligned timelines, and accountable decision making.
- Support customer-facing innovation, including product showings, technical sell-ins, and joint development projects.
- Co-lead commercialization teams with Operations, Supply Chain, FSQA, Finance, Sales, and Marketing to align expectations, risk assessments, and launch plans.
- Partner with cost accounting teams to ensure cost modeling, yield assumptions, and margin targets are accurate.
- Collaborate with procurement on ingredient strategies, supplier validation, and cost savings.
- Collaborate with the legal to assist with patent applications and intellectual property protection related to new products or processes.
- Lead and develop a high-performing team of culinary, R&D, and regulatory leaders.
- Build a culture of innovation, experimentation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
- Foster cross-functional engagement and create an environment where creativity and technical rigor coexist.
- Set clear goals, create development plans, and build succession; recruit diverse talent across culinary, food science, meat science, and labeling disciplines.
- Office, kitchen, and plant/facility environment; frequent time in the R&D kitchen and occasional support time on the floor during trials and launches.
- Travel to plants, supplier facilities, and customer sites (~20-30%).
- Ability to taste, evaluate, and handle meat/poultry products; compliant with food safety and PPE protocols.
- Vacation / Sick days
- Medical, Dental, Vision Benefits
- Telemedicine
- Onsite Clinic - Tyler and Valley
- Free annual health screening
- 401 (k) with company match
- STD and LTD
- Life insurance & other voluntary benefits
- Career Development: We support professional growth through continuous learning and development opportunities.
Soules Foods is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status.
Applicants with disabilities needing accommodation during the application process can contact Human Resources at the relevant location.
Soules Foods will not discriminate against applicants who discuss their compensation. We also participate in the E-Verify program where required by law.
Unsolicited Assistance: Soules Foods does not accept unsolicited support from external recruitment vendors for U.S. positions. Resumes or candidate profiles submitted without a valid written request and search agreement from HR will be considered the property of Soules Foods. No fees will be paid for candidates hired through unsolicited referrals.
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