Sr Manager R&D Packaging & SCA NA

In every role, McCainers are ambitious, curious, and passionate about creating exceptional work experiences - together. With a customer-first mindset, we make doing business with McCain easy.

About the role.
This role is responsible for developing and executing the North America (NA) Potato Value Engineering (VE) pipeline and the NA Potato and Apps Packaging R&D agenda. It drives identification, development, and implementation of cost and value solutions across ingredients, packaging, and processes. The role also provides site-level R&D leadership for Florenceville, ensuring safe, efficient operations and strong integration of product, packaging, and process to deliver scalable, high-quality outcomes.

What you’ll be doing.

• Develop and execute the NA VE pipeline from ideation through commercialization, delivering annual cost savings targets


• Lead complex, high-value initiatives, ensuring strong business cases, technical readiness, and sustainable results


• Partner cross-functionally with Procurement, Manufacturing, Technical Operations, Sales, Marketing, and Finance to generate and prioritize opportunities


• Collaborate with ingredient and packaging suppliers to unlock cost, performance, and innovation benefits


• Represent Value Engineering in capital planning and investment discussions


• Define and deliver the R&D packaging agenda, balancing cost, quality, performance, sustainability, and simplification


• Lead and develop a packaging and ingredient team, driving delivery of scalable solutions aligned to business needs


• Drive standardization, specification alignment, and continuous performance improvement


• Provide R&D site leadership for Florenceville, ensuring safe operations, trial readiness, and successful scale-up to manufacturing


• Embed disciplined ways of working across trials, development, and commercialization, including governance and tracking of VE value realization

What you’ll need to be successful.

• 7–10 years of R&D experience in consumer goods (food industry preferred)


• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related field


• Experience across innovation, commercialization, and manufacturing environments


• Strong project management and cross-functional leadership capabilities


• Strong business acumen, communication, and stakeholder influencing skills


• Deep understanding of product, packaging, and manufacturing processes


• Proven experience supporting scale-up and plant implementation


• Multi-disciplinary expertise across ingredients, packaging, and process integration


• Process engineering capability for troubleshooting and pilot/plant support


• Demonstrated ability to build technical capability and drive execution discipline across teams

About the team.
You will lead a team of approximately 7 R&D professionals focused on packaging and ingredient solutions. The team plays a critical role in delivering value engineering initiatives and packaging innovation across North America, working closely with cross-functional partners and manufacturing sites, with a strong connection to the Florenceville R&D and production environment.

About McCain.
Click Here to learn more about McCain and how we provide opportunities to make an impact that matters.

Leadership principles.

• Understanding customer needs


• Driving innovation


• Empowering people


• Taking ownership to deliver results

The McCain experience.
At McCain, you’ll be part of a collaborative, high-performing team where innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement are at the core of how we work. We foster an inclusive environment that supports personal and professional growth, encourages curiosity, and empowers individuals to make meaningful contributions. Our flexible and hybrid work approach enables balance while ensuring strong connection and collaboration across teams.

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