Senior Food Scientist

Job Title:

Food Scientist (Dry Blend/Seasonings/Breaders/Batters Experience Required)

Job Description

The Food Scientist leads the development, optimization, and commercialization of food products and ingredient systems, with a primary focus on dry blends, seasonings, sauces, breaders, batters, and related value-added food solutions. This role combines hands-on bench-top formulation with plant-scale commercialization to deliver innovative, high-quality products that meet customer requirements, regulatory standards, and operational objectives. The Food Scientist acts as a technical expert and project leader, partnering closely with Sales, Marketing, Quality, Operations, Procurement, and customers to drive product innovation and continuous improvement across the product portfolio.

Responsibilities

+ Lead the development of new products and the reformulation of existing products within dry blend, seasoning, sauce, batter, and breading categories.

+ Perform hands-on bench-top formulation, ingredient evaluation, prototype development, and product optimization to achieve desired performance and quality.

+ Design and execute experimental trials to improve flavor, texture, functionality, shelf life, and cost efficiency of products.

+ Develop products that align with customer specifications, processing capabilities, regulatory requirements, and margin objectives.

+ Conduct competitive product evaluations, benchmarking, and ingredient assessments to inform product development strategies.

+ Maintain accurate formulation records, project documentation, and technical reports to ensure traceability and knowledge sharing.

+ Lead scale-up activities from laboratory prototypes through pilot and commercial production, ensuring smooth transitions to manufacturing.

+ Collaborate with Operations and Quality teams to ensure successful implementation of new products and processes in the plant environment.

+ Support first production runs, process validations, and manufacturing troubleshooting efforts to ensure consistent product performance.

+ Evaluate processing parameters and identify opportunities to improve product consistency, yield, efficiency, and quality.

+ Develop clear manufacturing instructions, process specifications, and product standards to support ongoing production.

+ Serve as the technical lead for assigned customer and innovation projects, providing direction and technical expertise.

+ Provide scientific and technical guidance to junior scientists, technicians, and cross-functional teams to build technical capability.

+ Communicate technical findings, recommendations, and project updates to leadership and customers in a clear and concise manner.

+ Participate in customer meetings and support technical presentations and product demonstrations to showcase capabilities and solutions.

+ Ensure all formulations meet food safety, regulatory, labeling, and specific customer requirements.

+ Work closely with Quality and Regulatory teams to support product documentation, ingredient approvals, and compliance activities.

+ Assist with shelf-life studies, stability testing, and sensory evaluations to validate product performance over time.

+ Support continuous improvement initiatives related to quality systems, product performance, and process efficiency.

+ Manage multiple development projects simultaneously while meeting timelines and business objectives.

+ Develop project plans, milestones, and resource requirements to ensure effective project execution.

+ Coordinate activities across departments to ensure timely product launches and responsive support for customer needs.

Essential Skills

+ 7+ years of food product development experience, ideally 7-10 years; candidates with 5+ years may be considered with highly relevant formulation experience.

+ Hands-on formulation experience with dry blends, seasonings, breaders, batters, sauces, or related ingredient systems.

+ Proven experience taking products from concept through commercialization, including plant trials, scale-up, and manufacturing support.

+ Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, or a closely related field.

+ Strong food science knowledge with the ability to apply scientific principles to product development and problem solving.

+ Demonstrated experience across the product development life cycle, from ideation and formulation through commercialization.

+

Experience with scale-up activities and translating bench-top formulations into robust manufacturing processes.

+ Solid understanding of food safety and regulatory requirements relevant to formulated food products.

+ Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple development projects simultaneously and meet deadlines.

+ Effective communication skills to present technical information and collaborate with cross-functional teams and customers.

+ Strong problem-solving and analytical skills to troubleshoot formulation and processing issues.

Additional

Skills & Qualifications

+ Experience working with co-manufacturers…