Director, R&D – Digital Transformation

The Kraft Heinz Company
United States
Workplace: HybridFull timeUSD 190,300 - 237,900 annuallyFunction: Research & Scientific (R&D)Experience: 12+ yearsEducation: bachelorsSkills: ["Leadership","Communication","Strategic thinking","Stakeholder management","Influence"]

Senior leader responsible for defining the digital transformation strategy for the NA R&D organization, building capabilities to deploy AI-enabled tools, predictive models, advanced data architectures, and digital twin capabilities. Establish the vision, operating model, and multi-year resourcing plan to scale a multidisciplinary Digital R&D function, collaborating with IT, R&D, Operations, and QA to accelerate innovation and time-to-market.

Loading

Loading job details...

Preparing the role view and application actions.

FursaFursa
The Kraft Heinz Company
The Kraft Heinz Company
2 months ago

Director, R&D – Digital Transformation

✓ Verified Job

Canonical indexed version, validated from employer's careers page.

Source: Company careers pageValidated by: Fursa AI
Last checked: 23 days agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Senior leader responsible for defining the digital transformation strategy for the NA R&D organization, building capabilities to deploy AI-enabled tools, predictive models, advanced data architectures, and digital twin capabilities. Establish the vision, operating model, and multi-year resourcing plan to scale a multidisciplinary Digital R&D function, collaborating with IT, R&D, Operations, and QA to accelerate innovation and time-to-market.
Location: United States
Workplace: Hybrid
Employment Type: Full time
Job Function: Research & Scientific (R&D)
Seniority: Director level

Key Responsibilities

  • •Own the R&D digital transformation agenda. Translate organizational ambition into a phased, prioritized strategic roadmap, connecting it to enterprise value like top-line growth, productivity, sustainability, and time-to-market.
  • •Own organizational design for the NA Digital R&D team. Define target-state structure, capability architecture, and workforce plan to operate at scale, including hiring profiles and development pathways for data science, ML engineering, and R&D domain expertise.
  • •Lead integration of legacy PLM, ELN, and LIMS systems into a cohesive data platform in partnership with R&D Transformation. Define governance, data quality standards, and ingestion pipelines to power AI and predictive analytics at scale.
  • •Lead development and deployment of physics/engineering/chem-based simulation, machine learning, and generative AI models that predict consumer acceptance/behaviors, formulation performance, process behavior, shelf-life, and packaging integrity; define MLOps infrastructure and model governance.
  • •Design and operationalize a scalable Hub-and-Spoke engagement model enabling rapid, repeatable adoption of digital tools across Central and Platform R&D teams; establish workflows, decision rights, and governance for cross-geography collaboration.

Pay and Benefits

Salary: USD 190,300 - 237,900 annually
Equity and Bonus:Equity
Perks:Health Insurance401kEquityRemote WorkPaid LeaveDentalVision

Key Requirements

  • •Bachelor’s degree in engineering, data science, computer science, food science, or a related technical field with substantial experience
  • •17+ years of relevant experience (or 16-15 years with master/PhD as specified)
  • •12+ years leading digital, analytics, or advanced technology initiatives within R&D, manufacturing, or product development
  • •Proven ability to define and execute digital transformation strategy in a complex, matrixed environment (CPG/food & beverage)
  • •Strong organizational design and workforce planning experience, plus ability to scale teams and establish hiring roadmaps
Experience:12+ yearsCPGFood & beverageR&DManufacturing
Education:Bachelor's
Skills:LeadershipCommunicationStrategic thinkingStakeholder managementInfluence
Tech Stack:MLAIData architectureMLOpsDigital twinPLMELNLIMS

Eligibility

Work Authorization:Sponsorship available.

Company Brief

The Kraft Heinz Company
The Kraft Heinz Company is a global food and beverage company producing iconic packaged foods and condiments across categories like cheese, meals, condiments, and beverages, serving retail, foodservice, and consumer markets worldwide.
Industry: Food & Beverage
Company Size: Enterprise (1,001+ employees)
Revenue: USD 1B+
Growth: Public Company
Valuation: Public Company (Market Cap in USD)
Funding: IPO / Publicly Listed
Headquarters: Chicago, United States
Founded: 2015
WebsiteLinkedIn