Senior R&D Manager, Technical Innovation

Our Research and Development department is on the forefront of product development and innovation. It is easy to be dedicated when you’re a part of something much bigger than yourself. We’ve got an insatiable appetite for making a difference. The Senior Manager, Technical Innovation will steer our Fresh Dairy and ESL innovation platforms and the pilot plant capabilities that power them — setting direction for what the innovation system can make, measure, and prove; upgrading the spaces and equipment it runs on; and modeling its capacity and output so leadership can make informed decisions about demand, priorities, staffing, and capital. The pilot plant serves R&D scientists, research communities, engineering, operations, and commercial partners who compete for the same finite equipment and labor; this leader designs the operating model, investment roadmap, and analytical frameworks that absorb that complexity, working through the operating team rather than in the day-to-day. We are looking for a candidate who is equal parts innovation strategist, engineer, and systems designer to help Chobani advance its mission of making healthy and delicious foods. Responsibilities

Set the innovation capabilities agenda and scope for the Fresh Dairy and ESL platforms — steering the portfolio from concept through pilot proof and scale-up, and aligning technical direction with commercial priorities and category strategy. Steward pilot plant capabilities as a strategic asset: own the capability roadmap across the full process estate — HTST, homogenization, KDB-3, UF separation, ESL and ESL infusion, maturation, Goavec reactor, automation upgrades, vacuum cooker, batching, and filling — and decide where to add, upgrade, or retire equipment and processes. Lead through the operating team: direct the supervisors and leads who run day-to-day pilot operations, sample fulfillment, and laboratory testing, holding the system accountable for safe, on-time, in-specification output without owning floor-level execution. Own capacity and staffing modeling for the innovation system: maintain the empirically grounded model built from weekly shift-report productivity data, translate R&D and commercial sample demand into FTE requirements, equipment utilization, and constraint analysis, and present defensible staffing and capital scenarios to leadership. Model innovation output, not just plant activity — request-to-sample cycle times, trial throughput, shelf-life program yield, and cost per project — so leadership can see the productivity of the innovation system and where investment moves it. Lead space upgrades and capital-improvement projects — facility redesign, equipment relocation, and space optimization — balancing walking paths, utilities, hygienic zoning, and structural constraints, and carrying layout decisions through executive approval. Identify and relieve structural bottlenecks — the ESL line and cup sealer behave as serial physical constraints — distinguishing labor-elastic work from equipment-bound work and directing capital, scheduling policy, and process redesign accordingly. Set the operating model — intake rules, prioritization frameworks, and governed data pipelines, designed with engineering, automation, and data partners — so competing requests from R&D, commercial, and research communities are sequenced against real equipment and labor availability and a high-variability facility behaves predictably. Hold governance accountability for food safety, quality, GMP, and regulatory compliance and a zero-injury safety culture, ensuring standards, audit readiness, and corrective-action ownership sit clearly within the operating team. Institutionalize Lean, Six Sigma, and TPM as a management system: set targets for changeover time, cycle time, rework, and waste, review results, and protect the flexibility a prototyping environment requires. Govern external analytical laboratory and