Senior Food Scientist

Job Title:

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

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.

• 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.

• 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…