Standard Functional Foods Group has hired Carol Cooper to be its new director of human resources. Cooper comes to the contract manufacturing arm of Standard Candy with more than 20 years of experience in HR.

“Carol comes to us with a wealth of knowledge in human resources at a very critical time for our company,” said Tom Drummond, president and chief operating officer of Standard Functional Foods. “Her expertise will be extremely valuable to us during this time of growth with our company.”

Cooper was most recently HR manager at ArvinMeritor Inc., the auto supplier that last summer sold its Gabriel Ride Control unit, which has a Brentwood office, to a California private-equity group.

Standard Functional Foods was established in 1999 and now works with many food companies to develop healthy snacks and nutrition bars. It employs about 500 people.