Sr. R&D Food Scientist IV - Dairy

Who We Are

At Jonny Pops, our team is empowered to make an impact at work every day from producing high‑quality, innovative frozen novelties to spreading kindness one pop at a time. We look for bright and ambitious individuals who seek out challenges, thrive in fast‑paced and high‑growth environments, align with our core values, and get fulfilment from seeing their work transform the world around them.

Based in Elk River, MN, Jonny Pops develops, manufactures, distributes, and markets frozen novelties. Retailers from coast to coast including Target, Costco, Publix, Kroger, Cub, along with thousands of regional and local grocers make Jonny Pops part of their assortment. Growing from a dorm room start‑up in 2012, Jonny Pops’ mission is to make "A Better Pop for a Better World!"

Jonny Pops leads the frozen novelties space in innovation and uses simple ingredients with no artificial dyes. Every pop stick includes a kind deed, spreading kindness every day.

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Research & Development Scientist with extensive dairy product experience to join our team. This role is responsible for leading the development of new frozen novelty products with a focus on dairy systems. The ideal candidate will have a strong technical foundation in dairy chemistry, formulation science, and frozen product processing. This role works closely with Operations, Quality, and Supply Chain teams and assists in ensuring all R&D activities are represented in Food Safety Programs that are defined, executed and meet regulatory guidelines.

• Lead formulation and product development for dairy frozen novelties, translating consumer and business objectives into robust, scalable product formulations that meet cost, quality, and sensory targets.
• Design, optimize, and validate complex dairy formulations, including management of fat, protein, sugar, stabilizer, and emulsifier systems to achieve desired texture, stability, and sensory performance.
• Drive benchtop innovation and prototype iteration, utilizing advanced knowledge of dairy chemistry, frozen structure dynamics, and ingredient functionality.
• Ensure seamless technology transfer from lab to plant, leading pilot and full‑scale production trials to validate formulations, optimize processes, and resolve formulation‑to‑processing challenges.
• Serve as the on‑site R&D technical lead during commercialization, troubleshooting process deviations, ingredient variability, and texture or overrun issues to ensure consistent product quality at scale.
• Apply deep understanding of sensory science and flavor development to guide product design, conduct structured sensory evaluations, and interpret results to inform data‑driven product refinements.
• Provide comprehensive technical documentation including formulation sheets, processing parameters, and scale‑up guidelines to ensure manufacturing adherence to R&D intent.
• Build and maintain strong technical partnerships with ingredient suppliers, evaluating new dairy components, flavor systems, and process aids for innovation and differentiation.
• Monitor production performance to confirm process control, product consistency, and compliance with R&D‑developed specifications, collaborating with Quality to address deviations.
• Stay at the forefront of dairy science and frozen product technology, monitoring advancements in ingredient functionality, processing techniques, and clean‑label formulation strategies, and translating these insights into actionable innovation opportunities.
• Plan and execute laboratory experiments, applying scientific problem‑solving to enhance product quality and profitability.
• Conduct post‑trial analyses and apply scientific principles to improve formulations and processes.
• Perform risk assessments, troubleshoot technical issues, and implement solutions to improve quality, efficiency, and/or product performance.
• Manage multiple projects at once with minimal supervisor guidance using clear communication, prioritization, and multitasking skills.
• Monitor domestic and global trends related to flavors and ingredients for frozen treats.