Associate Manager, Product Development - Chicken, Pizza, & Roller Grill

About the Role

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and support the development of chicken, pizza, and roller grill items from concept to commercialization, ensuring alignment with consumer insights, brand strategy, and operational capabilities.
• Partner with internal stakeholders and vendors to commercialize, and translate briefs into scalable, manufacturable product solutions.
• Develop and optimize formulations with attention to flavor profiles, coatings, textures, and hold times.
• Drive plant trial execution and commercialization readiness with Operations and QA, ensuring smooth scale-up and specification accuracy.
• Conduct bench-top prototyping, ingredient screening, and sensory evaluations to refine product performance and consistency.
• Maintain deep understanding of industry trends, competitive landscape, and regulatory compliance (e.g., USDA, FSIS, labeling requirements).
• Support, validate, and launch cost optimization efforts without compromising quality or consumer appeal.
• Manage technical documentation, including formulations, product specifications, shelf-life validations, and trial reports.
• Deliver product presentations to key stakeholders discussing product intent, formulation basics, and technical deliverables (heating, holding, shelf life).

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in food science, Meat Science, Culinary Science, or related discipline. Masters preferred.
• 3-5 years of hands-on experience in product development, ideally with chicken, pizza, or roller grill products (e.g., taquitos, sausages, hot dogs).
• Knowledge of proteins, coating technologies, ingredient functionality and manufacturing processes.
• Experience with hot hold testing and food safety best practices.
• Skilled in managing multiple projects, timelines, and cross-functional inputs.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Comfortable in pilot and production environments, with ability to travel to manufacturing sites as needed.
• Proficient using Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook).
• Ability to lift up to 50lbs.
• Ability to sit and/or stand for extended periods of time.

Nice to Have

• Experience developing products for QSR, convenience stores, and/or retail food service channels.
• Working knowledge of regulatory and quality systems for USDA-inspected facilities.

Qualifications

• Educational background in food science, Meat Science, Culinary Science, or related discipline.

Benefits & Perks

• For a general description of all benefits 7-Eleven is offering in the US for the position, please visit this link.