Product Manager / Business Development Manager

Food Safety & Shelf-Life Solutions – Meat, Poultry & Seafood
A&B Ingredients, a specialty food ingredient manufacturer focused on innovative clean-label solutions, is expanding its presence in the meat, poultry, and seafood industries. We are seeking an experienced Product Manager / Business Development Manager to help lead this growth.
This highly visible role combines technical product expertise, customer development, and business development. The successful candidate will work directly with meat and poultry processors and their R&D, Food Safety, Quality, Procurement, and Operations teams to develop solutions for microbial control, food safety, and shelf-life extension.
Key Responsibilities
Develop new business within the meat, poultry, and seafood industries.
Build relationships with R&D, Food Safety, QA, Procurement, Operations, and senior management.
Identify customer challenges involving food safety, microbial control, shelf life, clean-label formulation, sensory quality, and cost-in-use.
Position A&B's portfolio of clean-label antimicrobial and shelf-life solutions, including vinegar-based and other natural preservation technologies.
Collaborate with the A&B Ingredients sales team and help manage customer projects from initial technical discussion through trials, validation, and commercialization.
Identify opportunities to replace or improve upon existing preservation systems.
Develop relationships with seasoning manufacturers and other strategic partners serving the protein industry.
Monitor competitive technologies, market trends, customer requirements, and new product opportunities.
Develop and maintain a strong pipeline of qualified commercial opportunities.
Represent A&B Ingredients at customer meetings, industry conferences, technical meetings, and trade shows.
Ideal Background
We are particularly interested in candidates with:
5+ years of experience in meat, poultry, seafood, food ingredients, food safety, antimicrobials, or related fields.
A degree in Food Science, Meat Science, Microbiology, Animal Science, Chemistry, or a related discipline.
Experience working with RTE meats, deli meats, processed poultry, sausage, ham, turkey, seafood, or prepared proteins.
Knowledge of Listeria control, shelf-life extension, and clean-label preservation.
Familiarity with vinegar, buffered vinegar, dry vinegar, cultured ingredients, organic acids, lactates/diacetates, or comparable antimicrobial technologies.
Experience working directly with customer R&D and Quality teams.
Strong commercial skills with a demonstrated ability to develop new accounts and convert technical projects into business.
Excellent presentation and relationship-building skills.
Willingness to travel to customers, processing plants, conferences, and industry events.
What We're Looking For
This is not a traditional commodity ingredient sales position.
We are looking for someone who understands the science behind food preservation but can also identify opportunities, develop relationships, communicate value, and close business.
The right individual should be comfortable discussing microbial control with a Food Safety Director in the morning, working through a formulation with an R&D team in the afternoon, and presenting the commercial value proposition to Procurement the next day.
Why A&B Ingredients?
A&B Ingredients continues to invest in its clean-label food safety and shelf-life platform and sees significant growth opportunities in meat, poultry, and seafood.
This position offers the opportunity to:
Help build a growing business segment.
Introduce differentiated technologies to major food processors.
Influence product and market strategy.
Work directly with technical and commercial decision-makers.
Develop new products and applications around emerging customer needs.
Play a meaningful role in A&B Ingredients' continued expansion in the protein industry.
Success in This Position
The successful candidate will be measured on the ability to:
Generate and develop qualified opportunities.
Establish relationships with key protein processors.
Initiate and successfully complete customer trials.
Convert competitive antimicrobial and shelf-life systems.
Commercialize new applications and products.
Grow revenue and profitability within the meat, poultry, and seafood markets.
A&B Ingredients offers an entrepreneurial environment where technical expertise, initiative, and business development skills can directly impact the company's growth.

Work arrangement
Yes