Manager Bakery Applications & Technical Services

Office Location

Mumbai, IN

The role

As Manager Bakery Applications & Technical Services, you will connect customer needs with practical ingredient solutions that support product innovation and commercial growth across India. Your primary focus will be bakery applications, complemented by opportunities in confectionery, sauces, dressings and condiments, meat, poultry and seafood.

This is a senior, customer-facing technical role rather than a traditional laboratory-based R&D position. You will engage directly with customers and their R&D teams, explore their current and future technical challenges, and translate these insights into viable solutions. Working closely with Corbion’s product management, commercial, regional and global application teams, you will develop, test and implement solutions using Corbion’s portfolio of preservation systems, vinegar-based solutions, cultured ingredients, organic acids, emulsifiers, fermentation-derived ingredients and functional blends.

A unique part of the position is the opportunity to help establish Corbion’s new Application Laboratory in Navi Mumbai. You will contribute your expertise and recommendations during its development and subsequently lead its activities as a regional innovation hub. The laboratory will support bakery, confectionery, sauces, dressings and condiments applications and enable customer solutions to be tested and optimized before implementation at customer locations.

The position is based fully on-site in Navi Mumbai and involves approximately 30% to 40% travel, primarily within India and, where required, selected South Asian markets. Customer implementation and plant trials may require visits of several consecutive days.

Key Responsibilities

• Build trusted technical partnerships with customers, distributors and strategic accounts by understanding their product, process, quality and manufacturing challenges.
• Work directly with customer R&D teams to identify current and future application needs and translate these into commercially viable ingredient solutions.
• Develop and optimize applications using Corbion’s portfolio of preservation systems, vinegar-based solutions, cultured ingredients, organic acids, emulsifiers, fermentation-derived ingredients and functional blends.
• Lead formulation and application work across bakery, confectionery, sauces, dressings and condiments, meat, poultry and seafood, with bakery as the primary area of focus.
• Develop solutions addressing shelf-life extension, food safety, clean-label reformulation, texture enhancement, yield improvement, flavour optimization and cost-in-use reduction.
• Take customer development projects from initial needs assessment and laboratory trials through validation, implementation and commercialization.
• Design and conduct application trials, including ingredient selection, dosage optimization and process improvement, to identify solutions customers can efficiently validate and implement.
• Lead customer plant trials, industrial validation and implementation across multiple manufacturing locations where required.
• Troubleshoot formulation, preservation, processing and implementation challenges, and conduct product benchmarking and competitive evaluations.
• Work with regional and global product management and application teams to adapt existing knowledge and solutions to Indian market requirements.
• Contribute expertise and recommendations to establishing Corbion’s new Application Laboratory in Navi Mumbai, and lead it as a center of excellence supporting customer innovation and business growth.
• Define laboratory objectives, budgets, equipment investment plans and capability-development roadmaps; manage resources, maintenance, calibration, utilization and materials inventory.
• Coordinate pilot-scale and customer-simulation trials, introduce new testing methodologies, and maintain protocols, formulation databases, technical reports and project documentation.
• Ensure compliance with Corbion’s safety, quality, food-safety and housekeeping standards and support internal and external laboratory audits.
• Deliver technical presentations, customer workshops, seminars and training programs, and support customer qualification processes and technical audits.
• Partner with Sales and Marketing to identify opportunities, develop the commercial pipeline and convert technical projects into business growth.
• Participate in strategic customer engagements, business reviews, innovation sessions, exhibitions, trade fairs and industry forums.
• Monitor market trends, regulatory developments, competitor activity and emerging technologies, and recommend innovation priorities based on customer and market insights.
• Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Product Management, Regulatory Affairs, Quality, Supply Chain, Manufacturing and regional and global R&D teams.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously while ensuring timely execution and, as the laboratory develops, help build and coach its technical capabilities.

You bring

Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree in Food Technology, Food Science, Biotechnology or a closely related food-science discipline.
• At least 8 to 10 years of relevant experience in food ingredients, food manufacturing or the specialty ingredients industry.
• Strong experience in customer-facing technical support and the credibility to work directly with experienced customer R&D and manufacturing teams.
• Strong knowledge of food ingredients and their functionality within finished-product applications, with strong technical expertise in bakery applications.
• Experience in at least one additional relevant category, preferably confectionery, sauces, dressings and condiments, meat, poultry or seafood. Deep bakery expertise with some confectionery exposure may also fit.
• The ability to explore customer needs in depth, ask strong technical questions and translate customer challenges into practical application and ingredient solutions.
• Experience with laboratory or application trials, formulation optimization, technical troubleshooting and implementation in customer production environments.
• Understanding of product scale-up and commercialization, including implementation across multiple customer manufacturing locations.
• Knowledge of food preservation, clean-label product development, food safety and microbiology fundamentals.
• Strong project leadership, problem-solving, stakeholder-management, communication, presentation and influencing skills.
• A customer-focused, commercially aware and collaborative approach, with the ability to work across functions and geographies.
• Willingness to work fully on-site in Navi Mumbai and travel approximately 30% to 40%.

Preferred

• A master’s degree in Food Technology, Food Science, Biotechnology or a related discipline.
• Experience in application or product development. Candidates whose primary strength is customer-facing technical support may also fit when combined with strong ingredient knowledge and solution-development capability.
• Experience leading or contributing to the establishment, management or capability development of an application laboratory.
• Experience within a multinational food-ingredient company.
• Specialized training or experience in bakery, confectionery, meat processing, culinary products, preservation technologies or product development.
• Knowledge of organic acids, cultured ingredients, fermentation-based solutions, functional blends and emulsifiers.
• Knowledge of HACCP, GMP, FSSC 22000 and other relevant food-quality systems.
• Experience with experimental design, laboratory documentation, audits and equipment or budget planning.
• Previous production experience or direct exposure to customer manufacturing environments.
• Experience coaching or developing technical or laboratory colleagues.

What we offer

• The opportunity to shape and lead Corbion’s new Application Laboratory in Navi Mumbai and contribute your expertise while its capabilities are being established.
• A highly visible role combining customer engagement, technical problem-solving, application development and commercial impact.
• The opportunity to work on strategic innovation priorities, including natural preservation solutions for bakery and new confectionery applications.
• Direct collaboration with customer R&D and manufacturing teams and with Corbion’s Sales, Product Management, Marketing, Regulatory, Quality, Manufacturing and global innovation organizations.
• Access to expertise from Corbion’s regional and global application teams, allowing successful technologies and solutions from other markets to be adapted for India.
• The opportunity to build application capabilities that strengthen Corbion’s position as an innovation partner for preservation, food safety, clean-label and sustainable ingredient solutions.
• Scope to build