Director of Product Innovation & R&D

Location: Mississauga, Ontario (On-Site)

Company: Healthy Crunch

Reports To: Founder & CEO, Julie Bednarski

Full-Time | Executive Leadership Opportunity

Help Create the Future of Better-for-You Foods

Do you believe that delicious food can also be nutritious?

Do you challenge traditional food formulation and believe that lower sugar, cleaner ingredients, and whole foods can create products that consumers love?

Are you passionate about transforming innovative ideas into commercially successful products that scale from concept to retail shelves?

Healthy Crunch is looking for an exceptional Director of Product Innovation & R&D to work directly alongside Founder & CEO, Julie Bednarski, leading the development of the next generation of innovative, better-for-you foods.

This is not a traditional R&D role. We are looking for a visionary innovation leader who combines culinary creativity, food science expertise, commercialization experience, and a passion for creating products that challenge the status quo.

If you are the type of person who believes "anything is possible" when it comes to innovation and that healthy food should never compromise on taste, we want to meet you.

About Healthy Crunch

Healthy Crunch is an award-winning Canadian food company on a mission to create delicious, better-for-you foods that everyone can enjoy.

Our products are sold across North America and internationally through leading retailers including Costco, Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro, Walmart, and many others.

We are known for creating products that are:

• Lower in sugar
• Gluten-free
• Allergen-friendly
• Plant-based
• Made with simple ingredients
• Inspired by whole foods
• Delicious enough for the whole family

Innovation is at the heart of everything we do.

The Opportunity

As Director of Product Innovation & R&D, you will lead Healthy Crunch's innovation strategy and product development pipeline while working directly with the Founder to identify, create, commercialize, and launch breakthrough products that align with emerging consumer trends and retailer opportunities.

You will own the innovation journey from concept development through commercialization and launch.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives at the intersection of food science, culinary creativity, manufacturing, consumer insights, and business strategy.

What You'll Do

Product Innovation Leadership

• Lead the development of Healthy Crunch's innovation pipeline and long-term product roadmap.
• Identify emerging food trends, consumer insights, ingredients, and category opportunities.
• Create breakthrough products that align with Healthy Crunch's mission of delivering better-for-you foods.
• Develop innovative products focused on lower sugar, gluten-free, allergen-friendly, clean-label, and whole-food formulations.
• Build new product platforms that create sustainable growth opportunities.
• Challenge conventional food formulations and identify healthier alternatives without sacrificing taste, texture, or consumer appeal.

Research & Development

• Lead all aspects of product formulation and development.
• Design and execute benchtop development, prototype testing, and product optimization.
• Apply food science expertise to solve formulation challenges.
• Develop superior products through ingredient innovation and functionality.
• Create products that deliver exceptional taste, texture, nutrition, and shelf stability.
• Evaluate new ingredients, suppliers, technologies, and manufacturing processes.

Commercialization & Manufacturing Scale-Up

• Lead commercialization efforts from concept to full-scale production.
• Plan and execute plant trials within Healthy Crunch's manufacturing facility.
• Work closely with Operations, Production, Procurement, Quality Assurance, and Sales teams.
• Optimize formulations for manufacturing efficiency, quality, scalability, and cost.
• Ensure products meet food safety, regulatory, shelf-life, and quality standards.
• Drive successful product launches with cross-functional teams.

Baking & Better-for-You Expertise

• Lead innovation across baked goods, snacks and emerging product categories.
• Utilize extensive baking knowledge to create products that meet consumer expectations while delivering improved nutritional profiles.
• Develop lower-sugar alternatives that maintain exceptional taste and texture.
• Understand ingredient functionality within gluten-free and allergen-friendly systems.
• Create innovative solutions that simplify ingredient decks while maximizing product performance.

AI-Powered Innovation & Future Thinking

• Utilize AI tools to accelerate research, ideation, trend forecasting, formulation development, and competitive analysis.
• Stay current with emerging technologies, food innovation trends, and AI-powered R&D tools.
• Leverage AI to support consumer insights, innovation strategy, ingredient research, and product optimization.
• Identify opportunities to improve speed-to-market through technology and innovation.

Strategic Leadership

• Partner directly with the Founder on innovation strategy and long-term product vision.
• Support retailer innovation presentations and customer-specific development projects.
• Identify white-space opportunities that can become category-leading products.
• Build a culture of innovation, creativity, curiosity, and continuous improvement.
• Help shape the future direction of the Healthy Crunch product portfolio.

Who You Are

You are:

• A visionary innovator who sees possibilities where others see limitations.
• Deeply passionate about food, health, wellness, and consumer trends.
• Highly creative and naturally curious.
• Obsessed with creating better-for-you products that consumers genuinely love.
• Entrepreneurial and comfortable working in a fast-paced growth environment.
• Equally comfortable discussing food science, manufacturing, and consumer insights.
• Strategic while remaining highly hands-on.
• A collaborative leader who inspires innovation.
• Someone who believes that healthy food should never compromise on taste.

Qualifications Required

• 7+ years of experience in food innovation, product development, food science, or R&D leadership roles.
• Proven track record of successfully commercializing food products from concept through launch.
• Extensive experience in baking, snack foods, bars, cookies, confectionery, or related food categories.
• Strong understanding of food science, ingredient functionality, and formulation development.
• Extensive experience developing gluten-free, lower-sugar, allergen-friendly, and clean-label products.
• Experience leading plant trials and commercialization within food manufacturing environments.
• Strong project management and cross-functional leadership skills.
• Ability to manage multiple innovation projects simultaneously.

Preferred

• Degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Culinary Science, Nutrition, or related discipline.
• Experience within consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturing.
• Understanding of Canadian and U.S. food regulations and labeling requirements.
• Experience working within SQF-certified food manufacturing facilities.
• Culinary training, baking expertise, or professional food development experience.
• Familiarity with AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, or similar technologies.
• Experience leveraging AI to support research, innovation, trend forecasting, formulation development, and commercialization.

Why Join Healthy Crunch?

You'll Have the Opportunity To

Work directly with Founder & CEO Julie Bednarski

Lead innovation for an award-winning and rapidly growing food company

Create products that reach millions of consumers

Bring your ideas from concept to commercialization

Help redefine what better-for-you foods can be

Build products for major retailers across North America and internationally

Shape the future innovation strategy of Healthy Crunch

Join a team that believes innovation has no limits

Compensation & Growth Opportunity

We are seeking an exceptional innovation leader who wants to make a meaningful impact.

Compensation will include:

• Competitive salary
• Performance-based bonus opportunities
• Career advancement opportunities
• Professional development support
• The opportunity to lead and shape the future innovation pipeline of Healthy Crunch

How to Apply

If you're passionate about food innovation, food science, commercialization, baking, better-for-you foods, and creating products that challenge industry norms, we'd love to hear from you.

Please submit the following:

• Resume
• LinkedIn Profile
• Cover Letter outlining why you're interested in joining Healthy Crunch
• Examples of products you have developed and successfully commercialized
• Portfolio or innovation examples (if available)

Please email your application to: ***email_hidden***

Subject Line:  Director of Product Innovation & R&D Application

We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Healthy Crunch is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.

Join us in proving that delicious food can be better for you and that innovation has no limits.