R&D Data & Process Lead

IFF Campus Brabrand is an innovation powerhouse in food ingredients, and we are part of a global network of sites. Our product development (R&D) and customer-facing food application teams are at the forefront of innovation, dedicated to helping our customers succeed with differentiating ingredients and top-notch technical expertise and support.


As our technical and digital landscape continues to grow, we are looking for someone who can help bring structure, clarity, and consistency to how information, systems, and data are organized across our global innovation community.

We are seeking an R&D Data and Process Lead who will work at the intersection of science, technology, and business processes to help build and maintain the foundational information architecture for our R&D and Application organization, ensuring that systems, tools, and data are connected and used effectively.

You will work closely with scientists, application specialists, technical experts, system owners, and IT colleagues to document how information flows through our innovation processes, define standards and best practices, and ensure our digital ecosystem evolves and can be maintained in a coherent and sustainable way.

This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys understanding how people work, mapping processes and systems, creating structure, driving implementation and delivering value. Success will depend as much on your ability to collaborate and build relationships as on your technical and analytical capabilities.

The Position

We are looking for a highly collaborative professional who can help establish and maintain the information architecture that supports our innovation processes.

Your primary responsibility will be to create and own a unified vision of our R&D data, systems, integrations, and digital workflows. You will continuously improve this landscape, and help technical teams to understand where information resides, how it moves between systems, and how it should be governed.

Working closely with business stakeholders and scientists across our global innovation community, you will identify opportunities to simplify workflows, improve information quality, reduce duplication, and strengthen connections between tools.

You will partner closely with the IT team on architectural decisions and implementation activities. While larger integrations and platform developments are delivered by dedicated IT teams and external partners, you will play an active role in defining requirements, coordinating stakeholders, supporting projects, and ensuring alignment with agreed architectural principles.

A significant portion of your time will be spent engaging with technical experts across R&D and Applications globally. You will seek to understand how they work, what information they need, what challenges they face, and how digital solutions can better support their work. You will help deliver smaller data and reporting solutions end-to-end, define when these prototypes need larger data solutions and manage this transition and implementation by dedicated developer teams.

Over time, you will become a trusted advisor on the R&D digital ecosystem and a central point of contact for information architecture, systems overview, and digital best practices within the function.

 

Responsibilities and Tasks

• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve the information architecture for R&D, Analysis, and Applications
• Create and maintain a clear overview of R&D systems, tools, integrations, and data flows
• Document how data is created, used, shared, and governed throughout innovation workflows
• Establish and maintain metadata standards, data definitions, and information management best practices
• Collaborate with scientists and technical experts to understand workflows and identify opportunities for data products that create value
• Support digital and IT projects by helping define requirements, documenting processes, and coordinating stakeholders
• Work closely with the IT team to ensure architectural alignment and consistency
• Help evaluate new tools and solutions to ensure they fit within the broader R&D digital ecosystem
• Monitor adherence to agreed standards and promote best practices for data and information management
• Create training materials, guidance documents, and communication materials to increase awareness and adoption
• Act as a bridge between food scientists, technical experts, business stakeholders, and IT teams
• Support the development and maintenance of system inventories, process maps, architecture documentation, and digital roadmaps

 

Qualifications

Required

• Master's degree in Information Science, Data Science, Engineering, IT, Computer Science, or a related field
• Several years of experience working with business systems, information management, digital transformation, data management, or related disciplines
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills
• Ability to translate technical concepts into language that business and scientific stakeholders understand
• Strong ability to document processes, systems, workflows, and information structures
• Experience working with cross-functional stakeholders in a business or technical environment
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Strong organizational skills with attention to detail
• Fluency in spoken and written English

Preferred

• Experience working with information architecture, metadata management, data governance, or system documentation
• Experience from R&D, food, life science, manufacturing, or another technical environment
• Familiarity with enterprise applications (LIMS,ELN, PLM), databases (SQL), integrations, and digital platforms
• Hands-on experience working in data science and/or data engineering projects.
• Experience with process mapping and business analysis methodologies
• Familiarity with Power BI and related reporting tools
• Knowledge of data quality principles and master data concepts
• Basic understanding of AI and digital technologies and their potential application in R&D environments
• Experience participating in digital transformation or system implementation projects

 

We Offer

• A job in a global team with opportunities for collaboration across functions
• The opportunity to work on digital initiatives that directly support innovation and business growth
• Close collaboration with highly skilled scientists, application specialists, data professionals, and IT experts
• Significant exposure to both business and technology, creating strong professional development opportunities
• Mentoring and partnership with experienced senior architects and technology leaders
• A unique opportunity to help shape the digital and information foundations of a standalone Food Ingredients business
• A role with broad visibility across the global innovation community and a strong opportunity to influence how people work

 

 

We are a global leader in taste, scent, and nutrition, offering our customers a broader range of natural solutions and accelerating our growth strategy. At IFF, we believe that your uniqueness unleashes our potential. We value the diverse mosaic of the ethnicity, national origin, race, age, sex, or veteran status. We strive for an inclusive workplace that allows each of our colleagues to bring their authentic self to work regardless of their religion, gender identity & expression, sexual orientation, or disability.

Visit IFF.com/careers/workplace-diversity-and-inclusion to learn more