Overview
The role partners with the TU & CE BU Leadership Teams to shape AOP planning and ensure that R&D capabilities, resources, and budgets are aligned to deliver business priorities and outcomes.
This leader will oversee the R&D Europe Operations Team, ensuring executional excellence, quality, compliance, and seamless delivery across Europe. The role will also provide leadership and strategic direction to the R&D Ukraine Dairy Team, supporting capability development, innovation needs, and market continuity.
The incumbent will act as a key liaison with Sector and Global R&D platforms to ensure alignment and support across TU & CE, Europe Operations, and Ukraine Dairy. They will represent these three areas in Europe governance forums, ensuring priorities are understood, integrated, and appropriately resourced.
As a key member of the Europe Foods Leadership Team, this role will help drive a one-team R&D culture across the region, balancing local market needs with broader Europe and global priorities.
The role spans three high-complexity environments: high-growth markets, Europe-wide operational delivery, and the Ukraine Dairy category. Success will require strong matrix leadership, technical depth, cultural agility, and the ability to balance strategic and operational priorities while delivering through others.
Responsibilities
- Align on R&D deliverables that will deliver the business plan
- Coordinate with counterparts for other business clusters to ensure scale use of Create/Lift & Shift
- Determine what BU programs will be prioritized for R&D support to ensure relevant resources, skills and budget that will enable successfully delivery of AOP. Lead tradeoffs and prioritization.
- Download from H2-3 R&D lead key programs impacting market and feedback to close gaps and resolve conflicts
- Influence senior stakeholders in business cluster and category/functional global R&D teams to ensure plan is understood and and aligned on
- Informs R&D portfolio manager of relevant resource allocation against key create market AOP initiatives
- Partner with H2/3 R&D lead for their category to understand how H2/3 planning will interface with AOP
- Represent R&D at relevant business decision making forums to ensure work is planned to deliver plan
- Coach and develop R&D team/leaders to ensure teams are capable/engaged to deliver plans and leadership succession is strengthened within overall PO1 R&D sector team
- Set vision and direction for one Europe Foods team to ensure all teams are balanced and focused on the most critical things
- Act as key point of contact for end-to-end cross category R&D agenda for GM in BU Cluster
- Represent Sector R&D on BU LT
- Represents holistic R&D agenda in BU Cluster leadership team meetings
- Consolidates functional global and PO1 sector support (TDC, Life Sciences) teams to help inform priorities for BU Cluster
- Helps lead negotiations with stakeholders in the BU Cluster, in relation to what R&D will or will not support
- Oversee operational R&D delivery across Europe Ops, ensuring compliance, quality, and executional excellence.
- Lead Ukraine Dairy R&D, ensuring capability building, category continuity, and future growth innovation.
- Allocate and prioritize R&D resources across all three portfolios.
- Serve as escalation point for technical and program decisions.
- Represent R&D at relevant business governance forums and Europe Ops category forums.
- Build capability, strengthen succession pipelines, and develop talent across all teams.
- Foster one‑team culture and collaboration across Europe, bridging markets, categories, and manufacturing.
Qualifications
- Degree in Food Science & Technology (BSc/MSc/PhD).
- Strong leadership experience across R&D in multinational environments.
- Deep expertise in operational R&D (quality, compliance, manufacturing support).
- Experience supporting or leading dairy category R&D (preferred).
- Strong strategic, commercial, and stakeholder influencing capability.
- Proven track record in capability development and people leadership.
- Ability to lead across complex, multicultural, matrixed environments.
- Strategic thinking and ability to balance long‑ and short‑term priorities.
- Strong technical credibility and influence across functions and Europe‑wide teams.
- High learning agility, insight‑led decision‑making, and forward‑looking innovation mindset.
- Leadership resilience, adaptability, and ability to guide teams through complexity and change.
- Ability to create inclusive environments that support challenge, collaboration, and growth.
