Bellisio Foods, Inc. is a growing global company with a long history of providing quality, innovative food tailored to meet consumer tastes and lifestyles. While headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, our immense production facility in Jackson, Ohio, creates more than 400 products spanning a wide variety of frozen food categories, including single and multi-serve entrees, snacks, and side dishes. We are a values-driven organization, making a solid investment in those who foster integrity, prize authenticity, and possess an entrepreneurial spirit.
We cherish that each individual is unique and celebrate the differences that make each of us remarkable. Bellisio Foods commits to embrace diversity, empower through equity, and elevate marginalized voices through inclusion. We believe that our dedication to these values increases creativity, produces innovation, drives growth, and creates an engaged and thriving team. We are devoted to providing an inclusive environment, free from harassment and discrimination, where all team members feel welcomed, valued, and respected.
Summary:
The Core Brands R&D Manager is responsible for leading product development, renovation, and optimization for the company’s established (“core”) frozen food brands. This role focuses on maintaining product quality, improving formulations, driving cost efficiencies, and ensuring consistency across manufacturing while supporting long-term brand growth. The position requires deep expertise in frozen food systems, ingredient functionality, and scale-up from bench to plant production.
Duties and Responsibilities:
• Lead reformulation and continuous improvement of existing frozen products (e.g., taste, texture, nutrition, cost)
• Ensure product consistency across plants, co-manufacturers, and production lines
• Execute product upgrades aligned with brand strategy (clean label, nutrition improvements, portion optimization)
• Oversee development of line extensions and incremental innovation within core brands
• Lead bench-top formulation, pilot trials, and plant scale-up for frozen products
• Partner with Operations to ensure seamless commercialization and startup success
• Apply deep knowledge of freezing processes (IQF, blast freezing) and their impact on product quality
• Optimize formulations to minimize freezer burn, ice crystal formation, and texture degradation
• Understand ingredient functionality under frozen storage and reheating conditions
• Partner with Marketing, Operations, Quality, Procurement, and Supply Chain
• Translate consumer insights into product improvements and innovations
• Support customer and retail requirements for core product lines
• Identify and implement cost-saving initiatives (ingredient substitution, yield improvement, process efficiency)
• Support value engineering projects without compromising quality
• Analyze product costs and recommend optimization strategies
• Ensure all products meet food safety, regulatory, and quality standards
• Maintain compliance with FDA/USDA regulations and internal specifications
• Support shelf-life validation and product testing
• Manage multiple R&D projects across core brands simultaneously
• Develop timelines, track milestones, and ensure on-time delivery
• Lead cross-functional project teams and communicate progress to leadership
Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, or related field
• 7–12+ years of experience in food R&D, with strong emphasis on frozen foods
• Proven experience managing core/established product lines
• Experience scaling products from lab to commercial production
• Strong understanding of frozen food systems, ingredient functionality, and processing
• Experience with ready meals, frozen entrees, vegetables, or similar categories
• Excellent project management and prioritization skills
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities
• Ability to balance quality, cost, and speed in decision-making
• Effective leadership and team collaboration skills
Bellisio Foods is proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran, or disability status.
Disclaimer: This job description indicates in general the nature and levels of work, knowledge, skills, abilities, and other essential functions (as covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act) expected of an incumbent. It is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities required of an incumbent. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.