Dairy Technical Service Team Lead

Job Summary

The primary responsibility of this role is to provide applications and project support to the Dairy Technical Service team. This includes organizing pilot plant trials, prototype development, benchtop and analytical work, and summarizing and reporting results and conclusions. The position requires a technical professional with 6+ years of experience in the food industry and expert knowledge of food systems, ingredient functionality, and processing across a broad range of food applications.

Experience and knowledge of dairy products, formulation, and processing is required. The candidate must possess strong communication and interpersonal skills, be comfortable working in a fast‑paced environment, and be willing to travel up to 20%. Leadership and mentoring of junior scientists, as well as contribution to the technical project pipeline, are expected.

• Lead a team of Dairy Applications Scientists to complete pilot and lab work for customer‑facing Technical Service team members.
• Set project expectations and monitor progress to ensure expectations are met.
• Work with Technical Service team members to complete customer projects or requests.
• Provide Technical Service team members with results and summaries of lab work completed for their customers.
• Manage a library of relevant formulas, prototypes, and customer demos.
• Oversee development of prototype demos for customer interactions.
• Act as a technical resource within the technical community at customers and within Tate & Lyle.
• Lead customer projects and provide technical expertise to address customer issues and processing challenges.
• Understand customer culture, capabilities, structures, and processes to support the development of fit‑for‑purpose solutions.
• Follow and share market intelligence and industry trends to contribute to solution development.
• Promote Tate & Lyle’s technical leadership by presenting new product ideas and technologies to existing and potential customers and at Technical Symposiums.
• Support customers in using ingredients by leveraging understanding of Tate & Lyle’s ingredients portfolio and their applications.
• Create recognition for Tate & Lyle’s ingredients/technologies by developing and fostering relationships within the industry.
• Build relationships with key decision makers in customer organizations leading to new opportunities.
• Build a strong and diverse internal network to draw upon the right sources of expertise as required.

• Education:
  
  MS or BS in Food Science or related field.
• 6+ years of experience in the food industry.
• Food formulation experience and understanding of food systems and ingredient functionality.
• Extensive industry experience, including demonstrated leadership within the technical community.
• Willingness to travel up to 20% (car and/or air).
• Strong customer‑market focus and commercial savvy.

• Customer/Market‑Driven: deep understanding of dairy chemistry, processing conditions, and formulation challenges.
• Commercial Savvy: combine technical expertise, external environment, and client business to make commercially astute decisions.
• Technical Solution Development: creatively, analytically, and holistically explore problems to generate impactful solutions.
• Research and Process Effectiveness: conduct rigorous, high‑quality research meeting scientific and professional standards.
• Collaboration and Influence: work across matrices, integrate functional and geographic boundaries, and advise internally and externally.
• Results Focused: take accountability for delivering world‑class solutions with initiative and ownership.

• Salary Range: $90,000 - $132,000.
• Comprehensive Total Rewards package including medical, dental, vision coverage.
• Paid time off: vacation, sick time, and 16 weeks of paid parental leave.
• 401(k) with company match.
• Company‑paid life insurance.
• Additional benefits at no cost to employee such as lifestyle spending account, identity theft protection, employee assistance program, telemedicine, and more.
• Multiple Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) supporting various communities.

Tate & Lyle is an equal opportunity employer, committed to the strength of an inclusive workforce.