Kinsa Group Blog

The following food & beverage industry professionals are experienced, motivated and ready to perform for your organization:

VICE PRESIDENT OF R & D

CN: 68378

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: Accomplished innovation leader with 20 years of solid marketing and R&D results at an industry-leading Fortune 400 food company and a $3 billion frozen food manufacturer.

Key accomplishments, skills and experience:

• Demonstrated track record of delivering growth through new product innovation. New product net sales reached nearly 6% per year and more than 18% on a rolling 36-month basis. Additionally the innovation pipeline value tripled in five years.
• Led marketing execution in the transformation of a commodity fresh meat business into a portfolio of consumer-desired products delivering a 150% increase in profit margins.
• Influential leader on executive teams tasked with creating a transformational corporate strategic plan and implementing best-in-class employee engagement program.
• Motivational team leader who built a culture of innovation in which R&D employee engagement improved at twice the rate of overall company growth.
• Proven ability to recruit, mentor and build strong leaders. Team members frequently selected for promotion out of R&D and for inclusion in corporate leadership academy.
• Strong analytical skills and vast experience with implementing best practices. Introduced best-in-class portfolio management system and spearheaded the new product process.
• Goal – lead food industry technical teams in delivering new product innovation through an R&D culture of collaboration, accountability and influence.

Expertise in:

• Team leadership (worked with teams ranging from 5 to > 100)
• Strategic plan development and execution
• Brand management (6 years in marketing at Hormel)
• Strong technical expertise with all forms of meat products
• General technical expertise with dairy / dough / entrees
• Extensive communication skills
• Employee engagement
• Stage-Gate / Accolade

EDUCATION: Ph.D. Meat Science in 1987 from Iowa State University

DESIRED SALARY: $150,000+/year

CONTACT: Please contact Laurie Hyllberg at 414.367.5505 or e-mail Laurie.

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PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT FOOD SCIENTIST

CN: 107429

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: Passionate Food Scientist with great product development experience in food.  After recently losing her position of 10 years with a major food manufacturer as Food Scientist – Biscuit & Snacks division, this seasoned professional is looking to bring her outstanding creativity in developing new ideas and flavors to your organization.

She is certainly a top talent with her experience, knowledge and education.  She has worked product development from bench top to pilot plant through to commercialization.  Has cross functional HACCP, labeling and quality experience through working closely with these areas of the company.

She has worked with shelf stable bakery and snack food products such as cracker and cookies.  She has also worked with flavors: from savory flavors to flavors for confectionary, jellies and sweet goods, to liquid, dry and plated flavors.

Presently renting, can make a relocation easily.  Ideal locations are; MO, KY, GA, SC, NC, WV, VA, TN, MD, NY, & NJ.  Would be a great asset to your R&D team… Will NOT be available long!

DESIRED SALARY: $70,000/year

CONTACT: To learn more, please contact Nancy Furgason at 414.367.5512 or e-mail Nancy.

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SENIOR SALES & MARKETING MANAGER

CN: 108195

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: Focused and driven strategic marketing and sales manager with demonstrated success in fast-paced, customer-driven and highly competitive sales environments.  Energetic multi-tasker competent in managing to budget, building and motivating high-performance sales teams, executing multi-faceted marketing programs and achieving aggressive sales results.

Possesses complementary operations management skills including:

• People Management
• Broker Management
• Financial Record Keeping
• Budgeting
• Strategic Planning
• New Business Development
• New Product Launch
• Key Account Relationship Management & Maximization
• Training & Education
• Cost Control
• Inventory Management
• Production Scheduling
• Tradeshow Planning & Execution

DESIRED SALARY: $110,000/year

CONTACT: Please contact Russ Lilly at 414.367.5513 or e-mail Russ.

The following food & beverage industry professionals are experienced, motivated and ready to perform for your organization:

DIRECTOR OF SALES / DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

CANDIDATE INITIALS: S. T.

CN: 88930

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: Outstanding!  Move this candidate to the top of your list.  At a great point in his career, this seasoned professional has:  strong communication skills, a technical background, operations knowledge and experience.

With combined experience of 15 years in specialty food / nutritional ingredient B2B sales, this individual has served such accounts as:  Kraft, Kellogg, Sara Lee, Wrigley, major beverage companies and more.  Also responsible for contract manufacturing.

This candidate is based in Chicago and is accustomed to 50%+ travel.

EDUCATION: B. S. in Microbiology; Masters in Business Administration

DESIRED SALARY: $100,000+ (most recently at $145,000)

CONTACT: Kinsa recommends meeting this candidate in person – you will not be disappointed!  Please contact Russ Lilly at 414.421.2000 x213 or e-mail Russ.

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DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS & PACKAGING

CANDIDATE INITIALS: A. M.

CN: 103879

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: Beverage / Bottling Plant Operations executive able to implement process improvements and cost reductions organization-wide.  Direct, extensive experience in utilizing LEAN manufacturing principles (including cross-functional teams) for problem solving, root-cause analysis, 5S, standardization, visual and value-stream mapping.

This A-level candidate enables his plant production teams to be high functioning, empowering them to autonomously identify problems and determine solutions in day-to-day production.  P & L management; Bi-lingual English / Spanish.

EDUCATION: B. S. in Business Administration

DESIRED SALARY: $170,000.  Willing to accept salary commensurate with position responsibilities.

CONTACT: To learn more, please contact Russ Lilly at 414.421.2000 x213 or e-mail Russ.

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RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT MANAGER /
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER / FOOD SCIENTIST

CANDIDATE INITIALS: C. R.

CN: 99757

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: Project-minded, professionally trained, highly creative candidate seeking to grow career to the next level with new challenges.  This self-motivated Product Development Manager / Food Scientist has over 10 years of industry experience and a proven performance record managing the implementation of new food products for the restaurant, hospitality, food service and retail food industries.

A determined leader, this manager focuses on enhancing productivity and profitability by utilizing strong technical, decision-making and creative problem-solving skills, while taking a results-oriented approach to project management and strategic marketing.  Has worked with marketing and sales to prioritize projects and determine which to pursue.  Employs “stage gate” process.

Open to relocation; single and renting; family is from Chicago.

Core Competencies

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Written and oral proficiency in Spanish, Italian and Arabic.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Ability to conceptualize a project from ideation to the commercialization and marketing stages.
• Strong business management skills; ability to critically evaluate projects for feasibility.
• Strong knowledge of FDA, FSIS and USDA regulatory procedures and Genesis nutritional analysis programs.
• Ability to translate scientific information to a range of audiences.
• In-depth knowledge of baking technology, dough rheology, grain technology and starch gelatinization.
• Proficient in flavor processing and development i.e., spray dried, oil, and alcohol based sweet and savory flavor/aroma generation.
• Proficient in product development for laminated and lean dough, pastries, sauces, savory items and spice blends.
• Strong pilot plant experience based on product development/food science background.
• Strong experience in quality assurance and implementation of HACCP programs.
• Excellent knowledge in value-added pastry, bread, sauce, soup and meat items.

EDUCATION: B. S. in Food Science and Nutrition; currently pursuing M. B. A. and M. S. in Food Agribusiness programs; Associates degree in Culinary Arts.

DESIRED SALARY: Current base is $85,000; bonus is 15%.

CONTACT: Please contact Karen Engelmann at 414.421.2000 x211 or e-mail Karen.