R&D Process Specialist – Plant Based & Fruit Fillings

TL;DR

R&D Process Specialist – Plant Based & Fruit Fillings (Food Manufacturing): Industrializing, optimizing, and validating products and manufacturing processes for plant-based solutions and fruit fillings with an accent on scale-up, process validation, and cross-functional collaboration. Focus on transferring innovative products into industrial production, solving process and quality issues, and driving continuous improvement across R&D and Operations.

Location: Viadana, Italy

Salary: €28,000–€35,000 per year

Company

hirify.global develops bakery, patisserie, and chocolate ingredients and food solutions for customers in more than 85 countries.

What you will do

• Lead product industrialization, scale-up, and process validation for new products and manufacturing processes.
• Plan and execute pilot, factory, and industrial trials, including validation of first production runs.
• Optimize plant-based solutions through formulation improvements, ingredient validation, and cost-saving initiatives.
• Collaborate with Operations, Quality, Engineering, and Product Development to improve efficiency, consistency, and Right First Time performance.
• Support fruit fillings development, industrialization, troubleshooting, lifecycle management, and continuous improvement at the Pozzolengo site.
• Maintain manufacturing instructions, specifications, validation reports, master data, BOMs, and other technical documentation while supporting customer projects and complaint investigations.

Requirements

• Degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Food Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 3–5 years of experience in food R&D, process development, industrialization, or a similar technical role.
• Strong knowledge of food manufacturing processes, process validation, and product industrialization.
• Strong project management, analytical, problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Experience working in cross-functional and international environments.
• Fluent English and Italian are required.

Nice to have

• Experience with SAP/ERP systems and master data management.
• Curiosity about digital tools, data, and AI.

Culture & Benefits

• Company welfare and benefits package.
• Training and development through local and international learning programs.
• Exposure to global R&D projects and collaboration with international experts.
• Career growth opportunities within a multinational organization.
• Flexible working arrangements in line with company policies.