Food Scientist – Packaging Innovation

Overview

Food Scientist – Packaging Innovation & R&D

Our client, a global chemical corporation, is seeking a highly motivated Food Scientist to support packaging innovation through research and development, application testing, and market development activities at their cutting edge R&D facility in Texas. This role will focus on the design and execution of food stability studies utilizing company plastic packaging technologies, as well as hands-on packaging trials including extrusion, forming, sealing, and filling operations.

The successful candidate will translate technical findings into application data, technical reports, and training materials for internal and external stakeholders.

• Design, execute, and analyze food stability and shelf-life experiments using plastic packaging technologies
• Develop and optimize packaging solutions for food applications, balancing performance, cost, and regulatory requirements
• Conduct extrusion trials on film and cast processes to evaluate material performance and processing behavior
• Support development of new packaging structures and applications in collaboration with internal R&D and engineering teams
• Generate application data to support market development and customer-facing technical discussions
• Translate laboratory and pilot-scale findings into commercially relevant recommendations
• Support customer trials and technical evaluations related to food packaging performance
• Manually coordinate and support form, fill, and seal (FFS) packaging activities, including setup, troubleshooting, and data collection
• Work closely with operations, engineering, and external partners to ensure successful execution of trials
• Prepare clear, concise technical reports, experimental summaries, and data presentations
• Develop training materials and technical documentation for internal teams, customers, and partners
• Maintain accurate records of experimental design, results, and conclusions

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Food Technology, or a related field.
• Minimum of 2 years of relevant experience in food science, packaging R&D, or food packaging applications
• Experience with food stability testing, shelf-life studies, and packaging performance evaluation
• Hands-on experience with extrusion processes (film and/or cast) and form-fill-seal packaging preferred
• Knowledge of flexible packaging materials and multilayer structures; experience with plastic materials is highly desirable
• Familiarity with experimental design, data analysis, and technical reporting
• Understanding of food packaging regulations and quality requirements
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities
• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to manage multiple projects and collaborate across cross-functional teams
• Willingness to work hands-on in lab, pilot, and plant environment.
• Ability to travel 30-40%