Job Description

Hiring: Manager - R&D Projects

Company: Food Buddies
Location: Chennai
Employment Type: Full-Time
Experience: 6-8 Years

Company Overview:

Food Buddies is the industry's leading food consultancy firm propelled to success by a young and dynamic team. We give life and form to ideas--turning them into commercially scalable businesses. Our motto is to make every client's concept a success by listening, analysing, and delivering the right solution that saves time, money, and energy.

Our key verticals include:

Food Product Development Food Industry Implementation Business Growth Strategy Food Branding Food Legal Compliance
Visit us at www.foodbuddies.in

About the Role:

Food Buddies is hiring a Manager - R&D Projects to lead and deliver client-driven food R&D and innovation projects. This role owns end-to-end project execution, technical quality, client management, team leadership, and billing milestones across multiple R&D engagements.

Key Responsibilities:

Own delivery of multiple food R&D projects from kick-off to closure.
Plan project scope, timelines, milestones, and resource allocation.
Provide technical leadership on formulation, process development, and scale-up.
Lead and mentor Assistant Managers and R&D technologists.
Manage client communication, reviews, and expectation setting.
Ensure high-quality documentation, reports, and deliverables.
Drive billing milestones, project governance, and closures.
Collaborate with Quality, Regulatory, Procurement, Finance, and BD teams.

Required Skills:

Strong expertise in food product development and applied food science.
Proven experience in managing client-facing R&D projects.
Excellent leadership, planning, and stakeholder management skills.
Knowledge of GMP, food safety, and regulatory basics.
Ability to manage multiple projects and teams.

Qualifications:

Bachelor's / Master's degree in Food Technology, Food Science, or related field.
6-8 years of experience in food R&D, product development, or food consulting.
Prior team-handling and client-management experience is mandatory.
PMP Certification is Required.

Why Join Us?

Lead high-impact innovation and consulting projects.
Work with diverse food categories and global clients.
Clear leadership growth path within R&D and consulting

Job Type: Full-time

Ability to commute/relocate:

Padur Road, Chennai, Tamil Nadu: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Required)
Language:

Tamil, English and Hindi (Required)
Work Location: In person