Director Research & Development (Food R&D)

TL;DR

Director Research & Development (Food R&D): Leading bakery, cake, and chocolate product development in Kuala Lumpur, with an accent on food technology, ingredient applications, regulatory compliance, and customer-focused innovation. Focus on developing new products, transferring technologies into local production, supporting commercial teams, and ensuring compliance with Malaysian and Singaporean food regulations, HACCP, FSSC22000, and Halal requirements.

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; the role requires travel and sales support within the country.

Company

hirify.global is an international food ingredients company developing bakery, patisserie, and chocolate solutions for customers worldwide.

What you will do

• Lead and supervise product development and technical teams across bakery, cake, and chocolate applications.
• Develop new products, concepts, techniques, and tailor-made solutions in collaboration with marketing and sales.
• Provide technical guidance on ingredients, products, technologies, and production processes to TQM, production, sales, and customers.
• Support innovation activities, product presentations, customer projects, and commercial enablement.
• Evaluate ingredients and products and ensure new products meet specifications and standards during testing and production trials.
• Collaborate with procurement on raw-material sourcing, testing, and structural cost savings.

Requirements

• University degree in food science, food technology, food engineering, or a related discipline.
• At least five years of experience in bakery, cake, or food R&D.
• Strong knowledge of food ingredients and their applications in bakery and cake products.
• Experience with food regulations and quality standards, including HACCP, FSSC22000, and Halal.
• Fluent English required.
• Analytical, proactive, creative, business-driven, and able to collaborate effectively with technical, commercial, production, TQM, and procurement teams.

Nice to have

• Fluency in Chinese to support Chinese prospects in Malaysia.
• Specialist knowledge of a specific food technology or product range.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Culture & Benefits

• Stable, fast-growing family business and international market leader.
• Culture focused on innovation and entrepreneurship.
• Freedom to take initiative and ownership of responsibilities.
• Training and career development opportunities.
• Competitive compensation and benefits package.