Scientist, Milling Science and Technology - Decatur, IL

Position Summary

Our Milling and Grain Quality Team is looking for an experienced scientist to enhance ADM’s grain and oilseed processing capabilities. This role will work across multiple projects to support operational needs, customer care, performance excellence, and growth initiatives for ADM’s milling business units. You will be responsible for understanding business needs, aligning technical work at laboratory and pilot levels, supporting plant trials, and gathering plant samples.

The holder will develop experimental designs, execute those designs, and analyze and report results clearly. Daily responsibilities include managing the milling laboratory, maintaining equipment, conducting safety reviews, procuring lab supplies, and mentoring technical staff through training and experiment execution. Interdepartmental collaboration and networking with technical leaders are required. You will communicate experimental results to operational stakeholders and apply findings to business environments.

Occasional domestic travel to other ADM locations is required.

• Partner with research project teams to identify, develop, and implement new grain and oilseed processing technologies for new products and process improvements before commercialization.
• Lead as an individual contributor and work with team members on matrix projects.
• Evaluate production processes and develop best-scale-down parameters and pilot tests to increase yield, purity, and capacity.
• Design experiments for laboratory and pilot trials, collect and organize data, and interpret results.
• Write detailed reports, prepare comprehensive presentations, and communicate findings at all organizational levels.
• Prepare mass balances for new or existing technologies to understand scale-up/scale-down.
• Collaborate with plant engineers, vendors, and contractors to identify scale-up risks and develop mitigation methods.
• Provide technical support to existing facilities and support pilot trials in industrial environments.
• Work with subject‑matter experts and managers to ensure scientific rigor and resource‑efficient high‑quality information.
• Assist junior team members in development and help create standard operating procedures while maintaining safe laboratory practices.

• Degree with demonstrated knowledge in Chemical Engineering, Grain Science, Food Science, Milling Science, or a related field. An advanced degree (PhD) or equivalent experience is preferred.

• Four or more years of laboratory or pilot/production experience at a technical level.
• BS with 10+ years of industry experience or an advanced degree (PhD or MS) with 5+ years of technical experience.
• Technical background in milling, cereal, food science, or related area with preferred knowledge of grain and oilseed processing from agricultural sources.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience with unit operations of food processing or milling applications and ingredient manufacturing.

• Strong engineering and mechanical aptitude with applied understanding of processing equipment and unit operations including grain cleaning, sizing, separation, steeping/tempering, dewatering, grinding, centrifugation, filtration, and dryers.
• Knowledge of developing mass balance and cost models.
• Strong chemistry or cereal/oilseed science knowledge applied to processing materials and final products.
• Excellent communication, project management, and organizational skills that drive timely experimental results.
• Strong teamwork skills to encourage open collaboration, feedback, and diverse project team interactions in a matrix environment.
• Good understanding of statistical analysis (JMP software) concepts and principles.
• Good time management skills.
• Ability to lead and manage teams and individuals.

• Demonstrated ability to work independently and support all aspects of laboratory and pilot experimental work.
• Ability to manage multiple projects with various research teams in a highly multitasked environment.
• Foundational understanding of corn chemistry and industrial processing of corn.
• Experience with analytical techniques such as HPLC, LC/MS, protein analyzers, NIR, and wet chemistry methods for…