Senior R&D Food Scientist

Front Royal, 200 Baker Plaza, Front Royal, Virginia, United States of America

Posted Monday, October 20, 2025 at 4:00 AM

JOB SUMMARY

The Senior R&D Scientist with Maker’s Pride is a key technical position within the greater R&D team that requires a self-motivated, technically experienced, customer focused candidate who will work comfortably cross functionally on the New Bakery & Innovation Business Platform (NBI) with Operations, Sales, Quality, Regulatory, Marketing, Supply Chain, Procurement, Finance, Project Management and Engineering to drive results within Maker’s Pride.

The Senior R&D Food Scientist enables faster business decisions to be made by providing deeper technical expertise, leadership and execution in the formulation, process development and commercialization of new products, within Regulatory and Food Safety requirements, across multiple Maker’s Pride locations.

This candidate requires creativity, innovative thinking, interpersonal effectiveness, effective project management skills, a depth of technical food processing knowledge and the ability to collaborate/mentor/lead with other professionals, within Maker’s Pride and outside with customers, both locally and domestically to achieve common goals.

Project Management:

• Manages New Bakery projects independently in the New Bakery & Innovation (NBI) R&D platform from ingredient sourcing, reformulating, cost management and product life cycle maintenance
• This position requires an individual to balance multiple assignments/tasks concurrently and demonstrate the ability to work independently or to lead a team within R&D
• Sets goals, specifications and manages full-scale production plant trials
• Works closely in cross-functional teams including Operations, Quality, Regulatory, Food Safety and Finance to design food products that meet nutrition guidelines, claims on pack and can be produced cost effectively across the many Maker’s Pride plants domestically. Enables quick business decisions and results through clear communication of technical results
• Upon completion of successful trials this Senior Food Scientist, with their Manager’s approval, will then turnover the production phase to Operations with set specifications, process instructions, appropriate yields and run rates
• Understands the business need, designs, implements tests, analyzes data, draws conclusions, documents, communicates results, and commercializes products
• Positively and proactively interacts with customers, prospects, R&D management and all colleagues to keep projects on track. Constructive technical relationship building, trust and communication skills are key to success in this role
• Travels and collaborates with plant personnel in production facilities on issues with existing processes
• Assists, Core Bakery R&D (CB), upon availability to drive improvements in production processes to ensure consistency, efficiency, and waste reduction in manufacturing across production lines
• Leadership:
• Collaborates cross functionally within Maker’s Pride platform teams (Bars, Bakery, Refrigerated & Frozen and Packaging) as needed. Works comfortably with suppliers and manufacturing facilities
• This role involves driving New Bakery projects under managements supervision ensuring that all products meet quality, cost, safety, and market standards while business decisions are made effectively and timely
• Fosters a collaborative and innovative environment
• Identifies and evaluates food trends with the Marketing Insights team that supports the business vision and customer strategy within a rolling 2-year horizon
• Develops a working knowledge of what Maker’s Pride food processing lines are capable of manufacturing

Product Development:

• Takes ownership of incoming projects from the weekly CFL meetings, that the NBI Manager/ SME/Director deem viable and strategic
• Conducts bench, pilot plant and production trials on new projects
• Communicates co-manufacturing developments for key customers through the promotion of our manufacturing services and capabilities. This includes specifying ingredients, process parameters, developing ingredient statements and calculated nutritional statements through formulation…