R&D Processing Assistant Engineer

The Flavor & Seasoning Process Team is responsible for delivering innovation for flavor & seasoning application technology globally within Pepsi Co, to enable future business growth, PEP+ goals, and to produce technical developments to support productivity programs.

This main purpose of this role is to execute projects and work streams delivering technical unlocks to support the above agenda through experimentation at bench and pilot through to validation at factory scale

This includes managing and coordinating trial activity, and delivering new process capability into both Pepsi Co research facilities and manufacturing supply chain.

• Lead and execute specific process development work streams from bench to pilot and manufacturing scales
• Lead and execute trial planning, coordinating resources to maximize learning between product and process-led trials
• Support generation of hypotheses and conduct experiments. Plan, design, execute and report statistically-sound experiments in a precise and timely manner to generate and test new hypotheses. Transform data and information into meaningful insights to drive innovation
• Identify and develop solutions to technical obstacles that secure a robust, workable pilot plant-scale process with line of sight to full scale manufacturing
• Work with external partners e.g., strategic vendors, Universities, Consultants, Co-manufactures, Open Innovation Partners and External R&D companies to develop technical solutions
• Some supervision of other Pepsi Co associates may be required (e.g. for pilot or commercial-scale trials)
• Engineering project management and some R&D project budget management are required
• Responsible for developing and following safe systems of work, and maintaining food safety standards, including when working in laboratory and pilot plant facilities

• Bachelors or Master’s degree in Chemical/Process Engineering or Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related subject (e.g., Biochemical engineering, Food engineering)
• 2 years’ experience in an engineering or R&D / technology development role
• Relevant project management experience, ideally covering product or process development
• Analytical skills to interpret complex data and distil into meaningful information and conclusions e g., interpreting process data, experimental design and statistical inference.
• Understanding of scale-up science, both theoretical and practical, and related hypothesis testing and experimental design, to drive sound experimental proposals
• Experience of plant operations highly desirable (can be factory or pilot scale)