Research & Development Manager at the Place (Smackers Limited)

The Place - We are a fast growing, world class, and dynamic, multi-billion Nigerian conglomerates, established and managed by a team of professionals with decades of management consulting and accounting experience/ training from Arthur Andersen (now KPMG in Nigeria). We are a profitable player in the QSR sector of the Hospitality industry in Nigeria with great prospects and staff strength of over 1000 employees. Currently, our operations span across 17 locations in Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria, with rapid expansion plans to penetrate more locations in the short to medium term.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Research & Development Manager

Location: Lekki Phase I, Lagos
Job Type: Full-time

Job Description

• The incumbent will have to use creative abilities and research methods to improve existing products based on Food service industry trends and develop new products to meet the needs of the company’s target market.
• You are expected to report on any technical product issues that are discovered during evaluation and manage product testing and trials, assessing the materials used, the efficiency of the process, and the effectiveness of the final product.
• You will also demonstrates ability to be hands-on and be directly involved in experimental production of food products to be developed.

Job Responsibilities

• Generally study our target customers, gather insights on what they watch and buy, to determine their needs: both actual and those that they have not articulated
• Conduct review of industry trends, locally and internationally
• Conduct competitor intelligence gathering and general ongoing competitor analysis.
• Lead ongoing market research with the objective of connecting with target customers at competitors locations to determine their needs/ preferences and their assessment of our strengths and weaknesses compared with competitors
• Oversee ongoing development and roll-out of new products and services,
• Conduct strategic headhunt or recruitment; assemble and lead team(s)/ expert(s) that will actualise development of new products and improvements to existing products
• Organise customer focus groups
• Get customers to taste products and get their feedback for improvement
• Determine and suggest most effective and efficient advertising/ marketing approach for product roll out
• Support branch roll out. Analyse demand across our target locations and prioritise ideal locations to situate branches  

Qualifications
Needed Qualifications and Experience:

• A University Degree
• Minimum of six years of corporate research and development experience. Preferably with a leading global research agency such as SMS Consulting, The Market Research Consultancy Ltd, Vizon, Kantar TNS and Nielsen. Familiarity with food, restaurant, nightlife and hospitality industry will be a plus.

Needed Skills:

• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent research and analytical skills 
• High levels of integrity and ethical standards
• A keen eye for detail to successfully scrutinize data 
• Ability to stay calm in a high-pressure work environment
• In-depth knowledge of accounting software and standards
• Ability to interact with coworkers and work in a team

Compensation

• Health plan.
• Pension.
• 13th Month bonus.
• Free Lunch.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note: If you’re excited with our company’s vision and want to start the path of becoming one of our future leaders, we’d like to hear from you.