Company Description

As a global key player in yeasts and fermentation, Lesaffre designs, manufactures and markets innovative solutions for Baking, Food taste & pleasure, Health care and Biotechnology.

Family group born in northern France in 1853, now a multi-national and a multicultural company, Lesaffre is committed to working with confidence to better nourish and protect the planet.

In close collaboration with its clients and partners, Lesaffre employs 11 000 people in more than 50 countries.

Lesaffre achieves a turnover of 3 billion euros.

For over 30 years, Lesaffre has been involved in Human Health & Nutrition as part of its ambition to Better Nourish and Protect the Planet. In November 2018, Lesaffre acquired Gnosis Advanced Biotech and officially combined it with Lesaffre Human Care to form a new Business Unit named Gnosis by Lesaffre.

Gnosis by Lesaffre is the business unit dedicated to human health.

At Gnosis by Lesaffre, we are committed to cultivating and to delivering nutritional actives, biotics, and nutritional yeasts that benefit human health and wellbeing, thanks to the power of microorganisms and biotransformation processes like fermentation. Put differently, we explore life to improve living.

Our vision: At Gnosis by Lesaffre, we strive for a world that moves better, digests better, ages better, feels better, and, ultimately, lives better thanks to microorganisms and fermentation.

Job Description

We are looking for an experienced Formulations & Applications Team Manager to join our Gnosis, our specialized Business Unit focused on Human Health.

In this role, you will lead a team of formulation scientists & technicians responsible for developing and optimizing formulations for our Gnosis product portfolio. As the Formulations & Applications Team Manager, you will be a key contributor to the success of our Gnosis business, working closely with R&D, production, and commercial teams to bring new products to market and enhance our existing offerings.

Your main missions will be :

• Lead and develop the Formulations & Applications team : setting clear objectives, providing coaching and mentorship, and fostering a collaborative and high-performing environment.
• Coordinate formulation labs, maintaining the highest scientific standards and ensuring that labs are operating according to group safety, health, and environmental standards.
• Manage multiple projects or work packages from concepts to commercialization.
• Preformulation: acquire technical knowledge on the intrinsic characteristics of our existing ingredients and products in development. Study the biocompatibility of our probiotics and other ingredients/excipients
• Drive the development of innovative supplement formulations that meet market demands. Oversee stability testing, and formulation optimization. Evaluate ingredient interactions and compatibility. Develop formulations that address
• Support business development through technical issues identification and solving for customers, participate to customers visits / meetings in strong connection with Marketing and Sales. 
• Manage the budget of the Team & the CAPEX for your the laboratory to be align with the business strategy & the technical needs.
• Stay up-to-date with industry trends and innovations, and identify opportunities for continuous improvement and process optimization within the team

Your profile :

• Master/Engineering Degree or PhD in Agri/Food Sciences, Food Technology or Biotechnologies.
• Strong experience (at least 10 years) in Formulation and Application work in food ingredient or industrial ingredient from bio-sources, food and galenic formulation in powder or liquid forms.
• Fundamentals on industrial fermentation processes (fermentation, purification, blending, stabilising)
• Strong people management skills. Experienced in organizing and managing laboratories and teams in a multi-cultural environment.
• Experienced in supporting business activities / dealing with customers and presenting on technical topics related to scientific experiments.
• Self-motivated and organized personally.
• Strong communication skills, written and verbal, in English. Italian would be a plus.
• Anticipate frequent travelling worldwide, to the different locations of the BU (Desio especially) and to customers’ and partners sites (around 20% of your time).

Additional Information

What can Lesaffre International offer you:

• We are a successful family-owned company with long-standing history where people truly matter.
• We promote a sense of fulfilment with a genuine mission: nourish and protect the planet.
• A good working atmosphere, in a brand-new Campus (With a Gym, a Restaurant, …) fostering synergies and teamwork.

At Lesaffre, diversity is a strength that enriches our culture and our teams. We are committed to offering you a work environment where you can thrive, regardless of your background, gender, age or abilities. We encourage all applications, as we believe that diverse perspectives strengthen our ability to innovate and meet the challenges of tomorrow.