Ingredion is hiring a Senior Manager, Customer Solutions & Product Innovation who will oversee a 10-person technical team responsible for all product development, applications, and technical services activities in support of the Sugar Reduction, Specialty Sweetener and Core Sweetener Business.  The CSPI team delivers on the full new product commercialization and evaluation process, as well as, works closely with our customers on innovation projects and provides expertise to enable our customers to use our existing products better.  The CSPI team will be a close partner with the Sales and Business Development teams to identify areas to focus our Innovation on and close opportunities for a customer base in Food related segments.   

Core responsibilities:

• Develops new product development and applications strategy in collaboration with business leadership and the Commercial team to effectively allocate resources to deliver on priority growth projects in both the short-term and the long-term for our Sugar Reduction, Specialty Sweetener and Core Sweetener Business.
• Leads team in the creation of product line extensions and novel technologies based on above strategy.
• Draws insights on market and customer needs and seeks opportunities to translate these into actionable plans.  Partner with customers to identify new product ideas and solutions.
• Provides customer support in terms of onsite troubleshooting, laboratory & pilot plant testing, webinars, and product inquires.
• Ensures CSPI team's key priority areas are aligned with overall business plans and are communicated throughout the organization.
• Draws on internal and external resources and ensures team is closely connected with other business, regional, and global teams for shared learnings.
• Works closely with the Sugar Reduction & Specialty Sweetener Platform, Business Development and North American Marketing Communications on developing materials and managing trade shows to promote the value propositions of Sweetener product lines.
• Proposes and researches new product ideas and identifies solutions to achieve performance.  Evaluates current product offerings compared to required functionality in targeted markets and makes recommendations for either new product development or complete existing product modification.
• Point of contact technical resource internally and externally for a broad range of inquiries representing the Sweetener business.
• Coach, counsel, develop, and motivate a team of diverse talented individuals to successfully achieve department objectives by having them all work towards a common vision.  Assess team skills and abilities and implement development plans to assure continued success.

Qualified Candidates will have:

• At least 10 years’ experience managing a technical team preferably in Product Development, Technical Services, Sales, and / or Manufacturing.
• Bachelor’s degree in technical related field; MBA and / or MS is a plus.
• Strategic mindset with excellent analytical skills and solid financial acumen.
• Ability to utilize market research to understand growing trends for innovation.
• Strong project management and team management skills and experience to execute work and deliver projects on time.  Understands how project plans and priorities are set and resourced.
• Strong collaboration skills, leverages networks within and outside Ingredion.
• Familiarity with experimental design, statistical data analysis and results interpretation.
• Exceptional verbal, written, and presentation skills.  Ability to effectively communicate at all levels within an organization.
• Ability to travel approximately 50% of time.