Research & Development Lab Technician

R&D Lab Technician

Seeking an R&D Lab Technician to join a Food & Beverage company.

This position exists to provide support to the R&D Department. The R&D Technician supports research, product development, and process optimization activities across dairy and beverage categories, including cultured products (yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese), fluid milk, and ice cream mixes. This role provides hands-on exposure to formulas, data collection, analytical testing, and cross-functional collaboration with Operations, Quality, Procurement, and Regulatory teams.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Conduct routine dairy physical and chemical tests including, but not limited to: pH, titratable acidity, salt, viscosity, solids, fat, protein, sensory observations.
• Prepare benchtop formulations, ingredients, and samples for testing and evaluations.
• Understand pasteurization principles and pilot plant operating procedures and basic maintenance.
• Support scale-up trials, ingredient evaluations, and process optimization.
• Conduct and track shelf-life studies with subsequent documentation.
• Package and ship product samples to customers and vendors.
• Responsible for sample preparation, equipment calibration & operation, experiment set-up, and clean-up.
• Compile and organize experimental data, trial summaries, and observations.
• Support preparation of technical reports and presentations and effectively communicate results.
• Under direct supervision of the R&D Scientists, support and assist in R&D activities and support development of products from concept through commercialization.
• Follow GMPs, food safety, and sanitation practices in the lab and manufacturing environment.
• Participate in team meetings, project updates, and problem-solving discussions.

Qualifications

• Strong interest in food science, and analytical testing.
• Ability to follow lab protocols, formulas, and SOPs.
• Strong attention to detail, organization skills, and willingness and desire to learn new skills.
• Comfort working in lab, pilot plant, and production environments.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and basic data analysis.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Dairy Science, Natural Sciences, or a related field. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.

Working Conditions

• Interpersonal Climate: The company values professional, cordial, quality communication and collaboration among staff members, taking place via a coordinated team approach. The ideal candidate will be willing and excited to join the team and support its efforts to generate innovative quality products.
• Physical Climate: This position sometimes requires the candidate to enter wet and/or humid conditions with mild to moderate noise levels. Safety training and protective equipment are required and provided by the company.

Only local candidates will be considered.