Senior R&D; Manager

For over 75 years, Lavo has manufactured, distributed, and marketed high-quality laundry and household cleaning products across Canada and the Northeastern United States. Lavo is a well-recognized company, thanks to popular brands such as La Parisienne, Hertel, Comet, and Artic Power, as well as numerous private-label products manufactured for major Canadian grocery chains. The company employs approximately 350 people in Quebec: at the parent company in East Montreal—home to our head offices and a 135,000-square-foot plant built in 2001—and at the Qualipak plant in Laval, which focuses on plastic blow molding production. To integrate its business processes, Lavo utilizes JD Edwards ERP infrastructure.

Role

Reporting directly to the General Manager (Canada), the incumbent is responsible for overseeing R&D; activities—specifically product development for the Canadian and North American markets as well as certain regulatory affairs functions.

Job Description

Senior R&D; Manager

For over 75 years, Lavo has manufactured, distributed, and marketed high-quality laundry and household cleaning products across Canada and the Northeastern United States. Lavo is a well-recognized company, thanks to popular brands such as La Parisienne, Hertel, Comet, and Artic Power, as well as numerous private-label products manufactured for major Canadian grocery chains. The company employs approximately 350 people in Quebec: at the parent company in East Montreal—home to our head offices and a 135,000-square-foot plant built in 2001—and at the Qualipak plant in Laval, which focuses on plastic blow molding production. To integrate its business processes, Lavo utilizes JD Edwards ERP infrastructure.



The incumbent organizes, plans, and coordinates R&D; activities related to product development, new raw material validation, cost or performance optimization of product formulations, and product diversification, all in alignment with company objectives. The Senior R&D; Manager coordinates the search for new raw materials—whether equivalent or innovative—and ensures technical support is provided to production teams, chemists, technicians under their supervision, and the quality department. The Senior R&D; Manager ensures adherence to annual reporting schedules and reviews reports prior to submission. They also ensure product regulatory compliance and represent the company’s interests before various government bodies and industry committees dealing with regulatory affairs.

Responsibilities

- Supervise and develop the team of chemists, scientists, and technicians (6 employees).
- Conduct staff performance evaluations.
- Set clear objectives, provide direction and guidance, and regularly monitor progress.
- Recruit, train, evaluate, and mentor the next generation of talent.
- Plan and manage R&D; priorities in collaboration with relevant departments.

Research & Development (R&D;)

- Manage R&D; priorities established in collaboration with the Director of Quality, R&D;, Regulatory Affairs, and Sustainability.




- Lead the work of R&D; technicians and chemists to ensure objectives, budgets, and timelines are met.
- Monitor R&D; progress and track task completion.
- Oversee formulation design, validation, and optimization in alignment with company objectives.
- Adapt laboratory formulas for industrial-scale production and coordinate trials.
- Identify innovative active ingredients and validate recent raw materials.
- Track project progress, analyze data, and make technical decisions.
- Communicate information clearly and logically; explain complex concepts and ideas simply and precisely.

Regulatory Affairs

- Ensure regulatory compliance of products, labels, and claims.
- Review and validate annual declarations prior to submission to the competent authorities.
- Maintain company certifications with external bodies.
- Represent the company before government agencies and industry committees.

Quality control

- Collaborate closely with the Quality team on the management of non-conformities.
- Recommend and validate required adjustments to manufactured batches.
- Support the implementation and validation of quality control methods.

Product Specifications

- Define, confirm, and communicate finished product specifications.
- Approve formula changes, deviations, and waivers.
- Validate methods, development processes, and control tests.
- Monitor annual finished product testing (particularly for private labels).
- Provide technical documentation to internal and external clients (forms, platforms).

Technical and Technological transfer

- Support production during new launches or process modifications.
- Resolve manufacturing

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