Alyssia Santilli

Why did you want to work for Kraft Heinz?

Being a foodie lover, it was a given to apply for an FMCG company! The thought of working with food every day, having a job that involved tasting and creating products that will be on the shelf at a supermarket is a dream of mine. A global company means there is room to grow an individual and so much to learn from experienced managers. 

What do you do day-to-day?

Starting off as an R&D intern for 3 months, my focus was to understand the ways of working in the business, how different functions collaborate and cross-functionally succeed towards the same goals. Moving into the Graduate Program as an R&D Graduate for one year, I had the ownership of many projects (with the mentoring of my manager). I worked on projects through the different stages - understanding competitor products and organising competitor tastings, completing evaluation forms, briefing in co-packers on the product attributed we want, completing specification to in turn create all the on-pack information for the product, attending production trials and all the way through to shelf life evaluations post-production runs.

Now I have moved into a permanent role as an R&D Technologist. The work has stayed the same, however, there is more ownership and ability to make trusted decisions based on the knowledge learnt throughout the graduate program. A key long-term goal I aim to achieve is to see a product on shelf that I saw through from ideation to commercialisation. 

What are the most surprising aspects of your role?

So many tastings! There is not a week that goes by where a tasting isn't conducted - this could be tasting a competitor product, new product development in the market, bench prototypes, production trials all the way through to shelf life evaluations postlaunch. 

What are some of the challenges?

Working across many different types of food categories; however, is great exposure! 

What has given you the biggest sense of achievement?

Presenting the Graduate Project to the ELT team. It was such an accomplishment knowing that what I created and presented is now being implemented across the ANZ business. 

Where do you want to be in a few years' time?

My ambition is to be a part of a dedicated R&D team that executes and launches innovative products into the market. 

What advice would you give to current students interested in working for Kraft Heinz?

Be open-minded, be up for a challenge and eager to step out of your comfort zone! The value of meritocracy is lived up to here at Kraft Heinz, within a few months you can be managing projects yourself and be trusted with your knowledge!