Accountable for product data governance and BOM integrity across R&D and Operations
Department: Research & Development
Reporting to: Director, Research & Development
The pay range for the role is $75,200 to $125,400 plus bonus, comprehensive benefits, retirement savings plan, paid vacation, and other perks and opportunities.
Role Summary
Gay Lea Foods is seeking a Product Data Excellence Lead to own the integrity, governance, and continuous improvement of product data across R&D and Operations.
This role is accountable for ensuring that product formulations are accurately translated into structured, complete, and executable Bills of Materials (BOMs) within enterprise systems.
The position ensures BOMs and product data are validated and ready to support manufacturing, costing, and compliance requirements, while driving workflow discipline through the commercialization process.
Working closely with R&D, Operations, Quality, Regulatory, and Finance, this role supports consistent data practices, clear ownership, and scalable product data processes.
Key Responsibilities
1. Product Data Ownership & Governance
- Own end-to-end product data governance, including BOM structure, standards, and data integrity
- Define and enforce data governance processes, roles, and responsibilities across R&D and Operations
- Ensure BOM accuracy, completeness, and alignment with product specifications and system requirements
- Establish data quality metrics and monitoring processes, and drive issue resolution
- Act as the central point of accountability for product data integrity
2. BOM Management & System Integrity
- Oversee the creation, maintenance, and lifecycle management of BOMs in ERP (e.g., D365) and formulation systems
- Ensure accurate translation of formulation data into executable BOM structures
- Maintain version control, change management, and documentation standards
- Partner cross-functionally to ensure timely and accurate BOM updates for product launches and changes
- Support system alignment and integration between R&D and Operations tools
3. Process Excellence & Continuous Improvement
- Identify and implement improvements to product data processes, workflows, and governance practices
- Reduce errors, rework, and cycle time related to BOM and product data management
- Drive standardization and best practices across teams
- Support reporting and insights on data quality, process efficiency, and performance
- Lead change management efforts to improve adoption of data standards and processes
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Engineering, Data Management, or related field
- 6-8+ years of experience in product data, master data, BOM management, or related roles
- Experience working with ERP or PLM systems; D365 experience is preferred
- Demonstrated experience in data governance, process improvement, operational excellence or workflow standardization initiatives
- Experience in manufacturing, food, dairy or regulated production environment is an asset
- Lean, Six Sigma, APICS/CPIM, PMP, or related process/project management certification is an asset
Key Skills
- Strong data governance and data quality management capability
- High attention to detail with strong execution discipline and follow-through
- Process improvement and continuous improvement mindset
- Cross-functional leadership and stakeholder influence
- Systems thinking including ERP / PLM integration and data flows
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Excellent communication and change management capability
Gay Lea Foods is a Canadian, dairy farmer owned co operative with a clear purpose: to enrich life with dairy. Founded in 1958, the co operative produces high quality dairy products while creating lasting value for farming families, meaningful opportunities for employees, and positive impact in communities across Canada. As a co operative, Gay Lea Foods believes that when the business succeeds, its members, people, and communities should succeed along with it. To learn more, visit gayleafoods.com.
Gay Lea Foods is an equal-opportunity employer and values diversity in our workplace.
Reasonable accommodation is available upon request throughout our recruitment and selection process.
Gay Lea Foods may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support aspects of the recruitment process, including screening and assessment.
We are currently accepting applications for this open position.
Thank you for your interest in Gay Lea Foods.
Wishing you all the best with your career search!
