Product Engineering Manager | Food Services
Are you a Foodie with experience in people management?
Great, then you might be the one we are looking for. We are all passionate food lovers that develop and provide delicious, desirable, safe, healthy, and sustainable food for the many people around the world, and we have the ambition to drive positive change in the food industry.No doubt food matters to people and the planet and to the IKEA business, and it is a strong contributor to the IKEA brand and business growth - for example, did you know that more than 520 million guests enjoyed our food last year?
We are on an existing journey where we, over the coming years, will continue to strengthen the core of what we do, developing food that is good for people and the planet. Every day we dare to challenge ourselves and living our values and we embrace the future and face the opportunities to enable success.
We are located in Älmhult, in IKEA of Sweden, where the total customer offer is being developed where we want to work close to our IKEA colleagues across the value chain and how we meet our customers every day. This is where our culture and values were shaped and are still developing.It is a melting pot of many different nationalities and cultures. Beside the IKEA Museum, IKEA Hotel, the IKEA store, and many other places to learn and meet, there is Aktivitetshuset, which is a meeting place and spare time facility with lots of possibilities for IKEA co-workers and their families.
If you choose to commute to Älmhult, the office is a stone's throw from the train station, and the shuttle buses to Helsingborg leave right outside IKEA of Sweden.
We are now recruiting a Product Engineering Manager within Range Area (RA) Food Service.
In this role you are responsible to drive and support the development of future solutions for IKEA Food restaurants, bistros and cafés. This assignment is “leading business and people together in true IKEA spirit.
Together with the team, you will drive the development of more sustainable, healthy, and nutritional food products embedded in future innovations, considering all five aspects of Democratic Design (Form, Function, Price, Quality and Sustainability).You will also lead the establishment of the product development engineering foundation incl. shared solutions on ingredient and component level, development guidelines, principles and working tools. In this
You will:
- Contribute to the Range Area strategies and business plan,
- Establish and support the Product Development Engineering assignment, incl. key capabilities:
- Engineering & Innovation
- Product Development Capabilities
- Development of guidelines and principles
- Quality assurance of newly developed products
- Secure and optimize the allocation of relevant Engineering Specialist resources in the product development & Life Cycle Management,
- Succession planning and recruitment of engineering Food competence,
- Develop and secure the right competence level for each co-worker,
- Establish and secure deployment and efficient usage of aligned working methods and solutions,
- Together with the Engineering Manager, lead the engineering transformation for Food Services business within IKEA.
We believe that you:
- Have solid experience from working within Food Industry or equivalent,
- Have thorough knowledge and proven experience in product development and in business development,
- Bring solid understanding of working with full value chain, stakeholder management and how to create preconditions for an efficient development that will reach our targets.
- Are capable to lead a group of Engineering Specialists. You are guided by the IKEA key values and you can lead through communication and creating strong and trustful networks and relationships in collaborative processes.
- Know how to motivate people and make them perform and deliver towards set goals and on time.
- Have the interest and ability to coach team members during the product development journey. It is important that you enjoy working with both people and products.
- Can explore different perspectives, welcome innovation and dare to challenge when needed. You have excellent communication and networking skills and are motivated by continuously improving ways of working.
Does this sound like your next opportunity?
Please send in your application in English no later than 1 December 2024. If you have any questions about the role or the process, please contact Engineering Manager Jenny Nygren, or the recruiter Bence Denes. We are reviewing applications continuously so do not wait to send in yours.
This is a permanent role based in Älmhult. The manager is crucial for developing a successful team and business, and we believe that your presence with the team and working most of the time in the workplace is important.