Kinsa Group Blog

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.

An effective mentoring program provides a wide range of business benefits:

• Facilitated onboarding.  Mentoring speeds up the process of bringing on new hires as well as redeploying existing employees into new lines of work.
• Increased employee satisfaction and retention.  Research has shown that employees who participate in mentoring programs have higher job satisfaction and reduced turnover.
• Improved employee productivity.  When employees are mentored, they can get answers to common problems quickly – without wasting time on rediscovering or re-inventing solutions.
• Effective career growth / succession planning.  Mentoring programs help employees reach their full career potential, grooming them to fill key roles as part of an organization’s succession plan.
• Knowledge management and retention.  Mentoring promotes effective knowledge sharing, to reduce the risk of losing critical skills and knowledge when employees leave.

Obviously, mentors can play an important role in ensuring your company’s continued success.  But while identifying a budding protégé may be straightforward, identifying a potential mentor can be more complex.  Whether that person is you, one of your managers, or an outside expert, a mentor should possess the following professional and personal attributes:

1. Senior-level business experience.  To provide guidance, the expert should have several years experience working in senior corporate positions.  At a minimum, the expert should be a professional peer to the protégé.
2. Interpersonal and political “know-how.”  The expert ought to be proficient in handling all sorts of complex interpersonal dynamics within the context of office politics.  To be an effective trainer, the expert must be able to help the protégé navigate the tricky political waters of his organization.
3. Integrity and confidentiality.  Professional development involves discussing high-level, strategic, off-the-record information, as well as sensitive personal issues.  Honesty and discretion are essential when broaching these confidential topics.
4. Organizational and personal insight.  The expert must have an in-depth understanding of the company’s objectives, needs and hierarchy.  Equally, he must also appreciate the protégé’s strengths, weaknesses and goals.  To achieve professional development goals, the trainer must align both the company’s and the protégé’s interests.
5. Flexibility and ingenuity.  When egos, ambitions and agendas collide, sparks fly.  What works for an organization one day may be thrown out the window the next.  An expert trainer must be able to shift gears, develop solutions on the fly, throw out tactics that prove ineffective and come up with new ones – fast.  He must be comfortable dealing with uncertainty to navigate a corporate environment rife with change.

Need a promising protégé?  Looking for your next mentor? Contact us today.  As a national food and beverage industry recruiter, Kinsa can provide the talented individuals – from R&D directors to food service sales managers to process engineers - your organization needs.