Thomas Sykora Email & Phone Number

Boulder, Colorado, US

Boulder, CO, US

• Relocated to the Czech Republic and took a voluntary career hiatus for an education & wellness sabbatical
• Completed Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Certification and taught Business English to corporate professionals in Prague, directly improving ability to lead diverse, cross-functional teams.Applied.

• Led the entire commercialization process from benchtop formulation to final market delivery, ensuring adherence to timelines, budgets, and quality standards
• Collaborated closely with Corporate QA team to ensure that all food safety and quality standards were met at all co-manufacturing sites
• Partnered with the supply chain team and vendors to source cost effective ingredients and sustainable packaging, significantly reducing waste
• Acted as the primary liaison for marketing support on new product development, co-manufacturing, and claim substantiationKey Achievements:
• Built R&D Innovation and Commercialization processes from the ground up for Coolhaus Ice Cream, identifying gaps and driving improvements
• Led a team of 3 in innovation/renovation pipeline projects, directing cross-functional teams through commercialization and launch, reducing time to market by 25%

• Utilized extensive food industry experience to build and implement Quality, Safety & Hazardous Material SOPs in a startup CBD extraction facility

• Collaborated with Marketing and Sales to define scope and key deliverables of project briefs
• Recruited, supervised, and coached employees to ensure success in their roles and delivery against company goals
• Utilized knowledge in food chemistry for experimental design and measuring process capabilities
• Optimized existing product recipes and processes to improve lean manufacturing efficiency, quality, or product costKey Achievements:
• Led multiple teams across different technical platforms (plant-based protein, frozen meals), rebuilding project timelines as interim project manager, resulting in reducing project delays by 30% and enhancing.
• Oversaw development and commercialization for innovation and renovation pipelines, ensuring on-time product launches, which led to a ~20% increase in market share for new products within the first year

Vevey, CH

• Led cross-functional teams through development and commercialization of DiGiorno and California Pizza Kitchen products against aggressive timelines, achieving >60% consumer preference over #1 in-market competitors.
• Responsible for designing the architecture, end user training and the migration of recipes into a new PLM system (SAP-RM).
• Trained and mentored new hires on development procedures, product paneling, running internal/external factory trials, and overall project management
• Consulted for pilot plant team on optimizing efficiency and operational output

Vevey, CH

• Product development lead on manufacturing optimizations driving >$1MM in savings.
• Led technical teams through the stage-gate process maintaining critical milestones while proactively keeping management apprised of project risks, timing, contingencies, and solutions relevant to business success

Vevey, CH

• Developed and commercialized new frozen entrees for the Stouffer’s Multi-serve and Single serve platforms.
• Collaborated with Culinary Innovation Team to identify new food trends in restaurants, leading to the development of restaurant quality entrees.
• Led taskforce on identifying and revising critical project management tasks for new product development and the training of new technologists.
• Trained and mentored new technologists on project management, cross-functional teamwork, and critical computer systems including SAP, Genesis R&D, and internal product development software.

Vevey, CH

• Corporate technical support contact for product quality, integrity and operational issues on all Stouffer’s Multi-Serve products, across all four Stouffer’s factories
• Executed product reformulations for flavor, nutritional, and cost improvements while maintaining value drivers. Coordinated consumer testing for In-Home-Use Tests and Central Location Tests
• Reduced consumer complaints by 50% through cost-neutral solutions
• Managed the redevelopment of 30+ cooking instructions for paperboard tray commercialization

East Lansing, MI, US

• Supported manufacture of over 30 different flavors of MSU ice cream and cheese. Ensured product quality through product grading, laboratory analysis and shelf life analysis

Vevey, CH