Job Type: Permanent
Work period: Full-Time
Location: Lae
Target: PNG Nationals
Elevate Your Career in Research and Development (R&D) Manager with Airswift
Join a leading food manufacturing company in Papua New Guinea as an R&D Manager, where your creativity and technical expertise will drive innovation and product development.
Role Overview
- Lead the R&D innovation, cost-out, and value-engineering strategy for the business.
- Build and manage a high-performing team of Category Leaders and technical specialists.
- Drive New Product Development, process improvement, reformulations, and technical support projects.
- Oversee R&D project governance, ensuring projects are delivered on time and to technical excellence.
- Manage the R&D Innovation Centre, ensuring safety, compliance, efficiency, and capability development.
- Partner closely with key stakeholders to deliver commercially sound outcomes.
- Champion technical excellence, consumer focus, and continuous improvement across the organization.
Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Food Technology, Food Science, Engineering or related field.
- 5–10+ years proven experience in R&D, technical development, or continuous improvement within FMCG.
- Strong product development and process engineering expertise, ideally with biscuits, ice cream, beverages snacks, or baked goods.
- Demonstrated project management experience across NPD, cost-out and process optimisation.
- Strong leadership capability with experience coaching and developing technical teams.
- Solid understanding of quality, regulatory compliance, and manufacturing environments.
Pay & Benefits
- Competitive salary package based on experience.
- Career progression opportunities with a growing, ambitious organization.
- A supportive and collaborative team culture.
- The chance to create products that inspire and delight consumers across PNG.
Unlock your potential with Airswift. Apply now! Applications close on Wednesday 17th June 2026.
About Airswift
Airswift is a global workforce solutions provider specializing in the engineering and technology sectors. With operations spanning over 70 countries, we boast a talent pool of over 9,000 contractors and 1,000 employees. Our unparalleled reach and expertise are unmatched in the industry. Learn more about Airswift at https://www.airswift.com/blog