R&D Director - Product Development

At Corbion, we exist to champion preservation in all its forms, preserving food and food production, health, and our planet.

Innovation drives our sustainable solutions for the future. To accelerate our strategic ambitions, we seek a visionary and results-driven Director, Product Development to lead our global Product Development organization within the Innovation & Solution Development (ISD) Center.

Role Overview

As our R&D Director, Product Development, you will shape the future of our product portfolio, translating the Bright 2030 strategy into impactful, sustainable solutions for customers worldwide. You will have freedom to define and implement new approaches, with a mandate to drive both incremental innovation and breakthrough product development.

You will work closely with business units across five key portfolios, with a particular focus on Preservation & Specialty Ingredients, Nutrition and biomedical polymers. You will be empowered to drive innovation for new products and solutions to ensure Corbion remains a leading company in sustainable food-ingredients for preservation and nutrition

Key Responsibilities

• Define, own, and execute the global product development roadmap, ensuring alignment with Corbion’s Bright 2030 strategy and business priorities.
• Lead, inspire, and develop a highly skilled, multidisciplinary product development team, including senior experts, and critically assess team structure and capabilities to optimize performance.
• Foster a culture of engagement, inclusivity, creativity, and accountability, earning respect through strong technical leadership and content expertise.
• Build and strengthen internal and external partnerships, including universities, industry associations, and technology networks, to accelerate innovation and capability development.
• Drive ideation and scouting for new molecules, products and applications, ensuring Corbion leads in innovation and creates new market opportunities.
• Oversee EHS and Quality performance, championing a strong culture of safety, compliance, and operational discipline.
• Collaborate closely with commercial and integrated supply chain teams to ensure successful product scale-up and market introduction.

What We’re Looking For

• PhD in Chemistry or a related scientific discipline, with strong affinity for food, nutrition, and/or specialty ingredients.
• Minimum of 15 years’ experience in product development, including substantial leadership of complex, multidisciplinary technical teams.
• Demonstrated ability to build strong, trust-based relationships with senior internal and external stakeholders, including academic and industry networks.
• Leader and excellent communication and influencing skills, with a collaborative, strategic mindset.
• Proven capability to translate long-term strategy into executable roadmaps and tangible business impact.
• Experience in both incremental product innovation and breakthrough new molecule development is highly valued.
• Ability to operate in an international context; relocation support available for the right candidate.

Why Corbion?

Join a purpose-driven, global organization committed to sustainability, innovation, and positive impact. You will have the opportunity to shape a new strategic era, drive transformative innovation, and contribute directly to ambitious growth targets.  We offer a dynamic, international work environment, professional growth opportunities, and the mandate to lead change at scale.

This position is based at our Global Innovation Center in Gorinchem, The Netherlands, with the possibility to work from home 1-2 days per week.

About Corbion 
 

Corbion is the global market leader in lactic acid and its derivatives, and a leading supplier of emulsifiers, functional enzyme blends, minerals, vitamins, and algae ingredients. We use our unique expertise in fermentation and other processes to deliver sustainable solutions for the preservation of food and food production, health, and our planet. For over 100 years, we have been uncompromising in our commitment to safety, quality, innovation and performance. Drawing on our deep application and product knowledge, we work side-by-side with customers to make our cutting-edge technologies work for them. Our solutions help differentiate products in markets such as food, home & personal care, animal nutrition, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and bioplastics. In 2024, Corbion generated annual sales of €1,288.1 million and had a workforce of 2,399 FTE. Corbion is listed on Euronext Amsterdam. For more information: www.corbion.com

Corbion is an equal opportunity employer and committed to a diverse workplace.  All applicants will be considered equally.

Corbion does not accept unsolicited resumes from individual recruiters or third party recruiting agencies in response to job postings. No fee will be paid to third parties who submit unsolicited candidates directly to our hiring managers. All candidates must be submitted by approved Corbion vendors who have been expressly requested to make a submission by our Talent Acquisition team for a specific job opening. No placement fees will be paid to any firm unless such a request has been made by the Corbion Talent Acquisition team and such candidate was submitted to the Corbion Talent Acquisition Team.