Product Development Associate Jobs in Chicago, IL

Company Overview
Synergy Flavors, part of the Carbery Group, is more than just a leading international supplier of ingredients to the global food and beverage industry-we're a team driven by purpose. Our vision is simple yet powerful: enriching lives through healthier and tastier foods.
We believe great flavor starts with great people. That's why we're committed to hiring creative, passionate individuals who want to make a real impact. With deep expertise across food, beverage, and nutrition, our teams develop high-quality taste solutions that inspire innovation and elevate everyday experiences.
Your Role in Synergy's Success
The Product Development team at Synergy develops industry-leading product formulations across food/confection, beverage, dairy, savory, and nutrition categories. Working collaboratively with Flavor Creation, Sensory, Research, Sales, and Marketing, the team supports the full innovation cycle-from ideation and concept development to finished product delivery and technical customer support.
The Product Development Director is a senior leadership role responsible for elevating Synergy's product development capabilities and setting a high standard for scientific rigor, product innovation, people leadership, technical strategy, and cross-functional collaboration. This leader drives new capability development, guides local and global strategic thinking, and serves as a senior and critical point of contact for both internal stakeholders and external customers
How You Will Contribute
Position Summary
The Product Development team at Synergy develops industry-leading product formulations across food/confection, beverage, dairy, savory, and nutrition categories. Working collaboratively with Flavor Creation, Sensory, Research, Sales, and Marketing, the team supports the full innovation cycle-from ideation and concept development to finished product delivery and technical customer support.
The Product Development Associate Director is a senior leadership role responsible for elevating Synergy's product development capabilities and setting a high standard for scientific rigor, product innovation, people leadership, technical strategy, and cross-functional collaboration. This leader drives new capability development, guides local and global strategic thinking, and serves as a senior and critical point of contact for both internal stakeholders and external customers.
Roles and Responsibilities
1. Leadership & Talent Development
- Lead, mentor, and inspire a high-performing Product Development team, ensuring robust performance management, coaching, and career development planning.
- Champion a team culture that is curious, collaborative, growth-oriented, resilient, and aligned with Synergy's values.
- Build organizational capability by developing technical talent, strengthening scientific competencies, and enabling team members to take on increasing levels of responsibility.
2. Product Development Strategy & Technical Leadership
- Provide strategic guidance to elevate Synergy's technical capabilities across savory, beverage, confection, bakery, dairy, and nutrition product categories.
- Identify, assess, and translate emerging trends-such as alternative proteins, taste modulation, and sugar/salt reduction-into actionable product and capability development strategies.
- Lead the creation of long-term roadmaps that strengthen Synergy's culinary science, application science, and innovation toolkits.
- Ensure scientific excellence in formulation design, ingredient functionality, processing considerations, and food manufacturing principles.
3. Innovation, Application Development & Execution Excellence
- Direct the proactive development of finished product prototypes that demonstrate ingredient performance, flavor efficacy, and Synergy's creative capability.
- Oversee the full innovation cycle-from ideation to prototype creation to customer handoff-ensuring high-quality deliverables and clear documentation.
- Support customer scale-up efforts by providing technical guidance, process insights, and troubleshooting for successful commercialization.
- Ensure appropriate use of Good Laboratory Practices within product development activities.
4. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Process Improvement
- Drive seamless collaboration and communication with Flavor Creation, Sensory, Research, Sales, Marketing, and Business Development to align project priorities and accelerate innovation.
- Lead continuous improvement initiatives that enhance workflow efficiency, product development processes, and cross-functional execution.
- Establish clear frameworks, communication pathways, and operating rhythms to strengthen coordination and project outcomes.
5. Customer Engagement & External Technical Leadership
- Serve as a key customer-facing representative for Synergy, delivering technical presentations, facilitating co-creation sessions, and demonstrating deep product and application expertise.
- Build strong customer partnerships by providing proactive product development support, insights into emerging technologies, and thoughtful solution recommendations.
- Represent Synergy's technical capabilities with professionalism and leadership at customer visits, conferences, and collaboration events.
6. Global Collaboration & Strategic Contribution
- Contribute to global strategic platforms and communities of practice to share knowledge and drive alignment across Synergy's international R&D teams.
- Engage with global colleagues to leverage shared capabilities, integrate best practices, and support multinational innovation initiatives.
Required Experience and Competencies
- Bachelor's degree in Food Science or related applied science. Advanced degree preferred
- 10+ years of product development experience across food, beverage, and flavor industries.
- 5+ years of progressive people leadership in a food or food ingredient organization.
- Strong oral and written communication skills.
- Deep food science knowledge, including ingredients, processing technologies, and manufacturing considerations.
- Expertise in Good Laboratory Practices within food product development.
"This role may be filled at a higher level (Director) based on qualifications and experience."
Salary Range: $147,000 - $198,000
The actual compensation that you will be offered will depend on a variety of factors including geography, skills and abilities, education, experience and other relevant factors. This role will remain open until filled.
For more information on our benefits click here.
Our Commitment to our People
We are a diverse and growing workforce of over 1,000 people across eight countries globally. As we continue to grow, we want to ensure that Carbery Group continues to be a place where people are supported to develop and feel that they can do their best work. We are committed to driving growth, developing future capability and delivering results through our dedicated teams.
We offer competitive salaries, comprehensive benefits, and an inclusive workplace where your skills, perspectives, and experience help shape the future of our industry. Join us and be part of a team that values collaboration and makes a meaningful impact - from local communities to global markets.
Carbery Group is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to fostering a supportive work environment.