Global Head of R&D

Job Description

Job Title:            Global Head of R&D

Team:                 R&D

Reports to:       Global Head of Marketing & Innovation

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Company Background

Ornua is a leading dairy co-operative which sells premium dairy products globally on behalf of its Member Co-operatives, Ireland’s dairy processors and, in turn, Irish dairy farmers. 

Ornua has revenues of €3.4 billion and is supported by a global team of approximately 2,800 employees. The Group operates as a commercial organisation across 10 business units, including 12 production facilities located in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa. 

The commercial organisation is responsible for the marketing and sales of Ornua’s consumer brands including Ireland’s most successful food export: Kerrygold. Consumer markets are served by production facilities in Ireland, Germany and the UK and by in-market Sales & Marketing Teams in Asia, Germany, UK, Ireland, MEA, Poland, Spain and North and Latin America. 

It also manages the procurement of Irish and non-Irish dairy products, the sale of dairy ingredients to food manufacturing and foodservice customers globally, and the implementation of de-risking and trading strategies to manage market volatility. These activities are supported by production facilities and in-market teams in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa. 

Ornua’s Values

At Ornua, our Values lie at the core of everything that we do and how we behave both individually and as a business. Our five values, and their underlying behaviours, encourage us to Seek and Embrace New Ideas, Make It Happen, Be Our True Selves, Show You Care and Achieve Great Things Together.

Ornua’s Growth

At Ornua, our co-operative ethos lies at the heart of how we do business. We care passionately about driving sustainable, profitable growth, underpinned by our ambitious ‘Transforming for Growth’ strategy. We have delivered significant growth in our core business, and we have ambitious plans for continued growth over the next five years.

The Role

As Head of Research & Development, you will set and drive Ornua’s innovation agenda, across product, packaging, and technology, to advance the Group’s ambitious long-term growth strategy.

This is a senior enterprise leadership role with accountability for establishing a clear innovation vision, building differentiated science & technology platforms, and translating research and development into commercial advantage, protected intellectual property, and scalable products.

Partnering closely with Commercial, Marketing, Operations, Procurement and external ecosystems to ensure ideas move efficiently from idea to launch to commercial reality. Central to success will be your ability to balance breakthrough innovation with value engineering, speed to market and manufacturability.

You will also lead, develop and mobilise Ornua’s global R&D capability, ensuring the function delivers measurable return on investment and drives sustainable, long-term growth.

Innovation Strategy, Science & Technology Leadership

• Define and execute the long-term R&D and technology vision, aligned to Ornua’s growth ambitions and portfolio strategy.
• Establish technology platforms and innovation roadmaps that enable both near-term product launches and longer-term differentiated capabilities.
• Lead the development, protection and exploitation of intellectual property, proprietary formulations and process know-how.
• Provide thought leadership to the Leadership Teams on emerging technologies, consumer trends and competitive dynamics.

Pipeline Delivery & Commercialisation

• Ensure robust governance through a disciplined stage-gate process, balancing creativity with speed, risk management and capital efficiency.
• Translate product, packaging and process opportunities into commercially viable, scalable solutions in partnership with Marketing, Sales and Operations.
• Lead value improvement initiatives through formulation, ingredient, process and packaging optimisation.

External Ecosystem & Partnerships

• Build and manage a strong external innovation ecosystem, including suppliers, technology partners, universities, research bodies and start-ups.
• Identify, assess and integrate external technologies and capabilities to accelerate innovation and de-risk development.
• Represent Ornua as a credible technical leader with customers, partners and industry influencers.

Capability, Organisation & Culture

• Lead and develop a high-performing R&D organisation across product development, packaging development, program management, new product manufacture, process engineering and science & technology
• Build strong knowledge management and competitive intelligence capabilities.
• Create a culture that combines scientific rigour, creativity, collaboration and accountability.

Governance, Resources & Performance

• Direct leadership of 20+ R&D professionals across multiple disciplines and geographies.
• Significant influence on capital investment, technology strategy and portfolio direction.
• Set priorities, manage resources and control budgets to ensure maximum return on technical investment.
• Provide technical governance, risk assessment and expert input across global projects and operating units.
• Track and report innovation performance, value delivery and capability maturity to senior leadership.

About You

• Degree in Food Science, Chemical Engineering or related discipline; Master’s degree or MBA strongly preferred.
• 15+ years’ experience in R&D / Technical leadership within food manufacturing, CPG or adjacent sectors.
• Deep experience in innovation, product development and technology commercialisation, ideally across multiple categories.
• Demonstrated track record of delivering breakthrough and differentiated innovation, not just incremental change.
• Proven capability in IP development, technology platforms and external research collaboration.
• Senior-level people leader with experience building, scaling and transforming technical organisations.
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to translate science into business value.
• Comfortable operating in complexity and ambiguity, with strong influencing and communication skills.
• Willingness to travel internationally (up to ~30%).

Closing date: 9th February 2026