Location: Aimargues

Segment: Royal Canin

Type of contract: Permanent

Royal Canin’s ambition is to be the reference in health nutrition for cats and dogs, with the responsibility of making their lives better, healthier and longer. Our mission allows us to transform the health and well-being of each animal by pushing the boundaries of nutrition and knowledge in partnership with pet professionals.

The Centre of Expertise for Functional Complement (COE) is a new RC entity twit the objective to create new categories for Royal Canin – Supplements and Treats (all formats) – but also to bring growth to our other historic and iconic products made by our external partners (Co-manufacturers).

This new family of products will allow to cover new health needs and for Royal Canin.

Developing innovative product solutions in this new category (Supplements & treats) will play a crucial role in enabling Royal Canin to win in this new territory.

This role is critical to deliver the innovation pipeline in support to the global FC innovation strategy, leveraging technical knowledge in the category but also establishing a competitive advantage on new or improved products.

The Senior Product Designer is accountable to ensure Product design and lead technical development of Functional Complements Innovation pipeline.

What are we looking for?

• Position with numerous interfaces demanding transversal management practices and good communication skills.

• Ability to adapt and manage multiple ongoing projects.

• Knowledge in Nutrition is an asset.

• Able to lead a project with autonomy

• 5 years or more, experience in managing complex projects in a changing environment

• English is fluent

What will be your key responsibilities?

Generate insights & coordinate opportunities in Pre-Quest

The Senior Product Designer FC brings added value to our offer by shaping our innovation for cats and dogs in order to also answer to customers and pet owners’ needs.

Therefore, the FC Senior Product Designer:

• Collaborate with Core Health Research & with Product Technology Research teams to identify opportunities and feed IM process and Quest projects for Functional Complements

• Collaborate with Innovation Material team to identify Raw material with new health benefits and sustainable benefits.

• Collaborate with Pet Nutrition teams (Waltham Research center, Science & Technology platforms, Next generation Innovation Centers) to identify opportunities & knowledge not available in RC ecosystem

• Collects, with CMI and/or CTI, pain points and needs – define the Job-To-Be-Done

• Co-lead FC Idea Management projects (using FEF process) with Demand FC team

• Explore potential answers to those pain points with internal capabilities or with external Co manufacturers and external partners as start-ups

• Influence 360° New Product Request from Demand Innovation Team focusing on value creation by leveraging above explorations

Lead R&D exploration phasis with Co-manufacturer

The Senior Product Designer FC, as technical leader of EM project exploration team, is responsible of technical validation of Co-manufacturer technical capabilities and final decision of selecting the Co-man for future Quest projects. Therefore, the FC Senior Product Designer :

• Build exploration development Plan

• Formalize the recommendation to gate keepers (Go/NO Go) at different steps of Exploration phasis

• Organize with the Co-man the kitchen, pilot and industrial trials to validate the technical feasibility and capacity to scale-up

• Conduct Technical Risk assessment with all respective stakeholders (Q&FS, Regulatory, IP, Pet center) to validate all the CSF Compliance

• Formalize Exploration phasis closure with all documents available to validate the Co-man selection for Quest projects.

Design with technical experts Health value proposition

The Senior Product Designer FC is accountable of the global technical feasibility OTIF for new FC products in QuEST and responsible for R&D Quest deliverables end to end at each state gate.

Therefore, the FC Senior Product Designer :

• Facilitate the handover from Research to Design phasis when needed by :

*Supporting the researcher in defining the nutritional vehicule used for the Research study to ease transferability when needed

* Participate to the Technical Risk Assessment at gate 5 (TRL) to evaluate risks of deployment / scale up when needed (Nutrition, Raw Material, Technology)

• Leverage External Partnership done with the Co-man selected during Exploration phasis

• Include End to End Sustainability impact in Product Design

• Collaborates with Core project team to build DVFS document with technical information requested

• Interacts closely with Marketing and Regulatory teams (Global, Regional and Local) to define the project brief content (including Scope, CSFs and targets) and its feasibility with the partner selected (Co-man) during exploration phasis.

• Is Responsible of consistency of product design with claims in collaboration with the Pet and Product Science Team (highlighted benefits)

• Define the content of the product design brief, ensuring all criterias and conditions required for the product to perform with pets and pet owners. Aligns this with the FC Demand team

• Aligns and builds with scientific support the formulation logic for new products (including all constraints and insights) and work with the Co-man R&D team to propose and design formulas

• Leads the Formula Logic Review with all stakeholders to guarantee that the project team is aligned and to ensure we reach the CSF of the project brief.

• Ensures that raw materials and equipment will be ready to use with the Co-manufacturer selected .

• Defines qualification criteria and physical specifications for the new product with the project team (KQA)

• In collaboration with the Product Validation Team, coordinate with the Co-man the sampling to feed the Product Performance requests (Pet center testing, clinical trials) and defines with them and Q&FS the KQA (Key Quality Attributes) of the product.

• Lead and organize with the support of the Co-man the shelf-life studies requested

• Check consistency of development with the current product portfolio

Technical Lead of Quest Solution Design with global stakeholders & Co-Man

The FC Senior Product Designer leads and animates technical workstream within the R&D teams, the Co-man and with Global functions, for Functional Complement Innovation projects.

Therefore, the FC Senior Product Designer:

• Leads and coordinates with all teams the technical risk analysis for the project

• Collects requested data for Raw Materials used by the Co-man for initiating RM Regulatory assessment

• Initiates with Global and local Regulatory teams the Regulatory Assessment of the ingredients (through LARES) to ensure they can be used in the product with its claim wordings.

• Ensures the technical representation/inputs of Projects during technical and decision forum (GPMR, Project Steering Committee…) in collaboration with Global Project Managers

• Can take part as Speaker during Launching events thanks to their recognised functional expertise

• Stand as the key R&D key-interface with the co-manufacturer and coordinate execution with that co-manufacturer

• Stand as the R&D key-interface with all R&D teams (Facilities, Q&FS, commercial..) to coordinate logistics & tests

• Capture and consolidate acquired technical knowledge (knowledge management) of all different technologies shared with Co-mans.

Coordinate the different Industrialisation steps with the Co-man

The FC Senior Product Designer as R&D key-interface coordinate in collaboration with the Co-man ethe different steps of industrialisation of the new product done in partner facilities (kitchen, pilot, industrial line)

Therefore, the FC Senior Product Designer:

• Ensures that raw materials and equipment will be ready to use. And if necessary, ensure that adaptation has been prepared in case of dead end, compliant with the project brief CSF.

• Coordinate and plan the trial preparation with all the documentation (Trial brief, recipe…) in place

• Organize the trial and coordinate with different stakeholders (Q&FS, Packaging, logistics for Product Performance) for CSF and KQA.

• Follow-up with product analysis and trial validation (Go/No GO) and provide all documentation for traceability

Supports Technical Deployment for Regional implementation

The FC Senior Product Designer brings added value to R&D FC team by supporting some FC deployment projects covering tasks for Geographical expansion or implementation in another region of existing technology in Functional Complement Co-man catalogue.

Therefore, the FC Senior Product Designer :

• Supports with Global and local Regulatory teams the Regulatory Assessment of the ingredients (through LARES) to ensure they can be exported in a new market in case of geographical expansion

• Supports technical competencies on Nutrition and Technology for DVFS step for Regional implementation (New Co-man for an existing technology)

• Mentors regional implementation projects (existing technology in Catalogue) about formal & unformal channels to get things done

What can you expect from Mars?

• At Mars, we believe in a relationship of mutual trust, dignity and respect between our company and Associates that is more meaningful than the standard employer/employee relationship.

• As Associates, we can expect to be respected, supported and valued as individuals, to be treated fairly and equitably.

• The opportunity to learn and develop, taking charge of your own career across Mars.

• You will work in a multicultural environment (more than 40 nationalities) and where your dog will be welcomed by more than 100 other Associates’ dogs at the office!

• You will work in a unique campus, which gathers more than 800 Associates working for: the international HQ, the French subsidiary, two laboratories, a kennel and a cattery with more than 200 cats & dogs, and finally the most important factory of the Royal Canin group

• A unique and ideal work environment to become the leader in health through nutrition for cats and dogs!