Sr. Research and Development Scientist

Job Description

About Us:

At Cibo Vita, innovation drives everything we do. Based in Totowa, NJ, we craft premium healthy snacks under the Nature’s Garden brand, combining quality ingredients with creative flavor and function. Our products are designed to support wellness, sustainability, and better snacking choices—helping consumers “Snack with Purpose.”

The Sr. Research and Development Scientist reports directly to the Research & Technical Development Lead and plays a critical role in advancing technical platforms, ingredient research, and process feasibility for snack and confectionery products. The role focuses on early‑stage formulation science, functionality modeling, and technical risk mitigation prior to commercialization handoff. The Senior R&D Scientist operates within the Technical & Research Team and collaborates closely with the Product Development & Commercialization Team during scale‑up and launch readiness phases.

• Support the Research & Technical Development Lead in building and optimizing core technology platforms (e.g., probiotic systems, fiber‑enriched system, sugar reduction system, hydrocolloid systems, protein‑enhanced system).
• Conduct ingredient functionality studies to understand structure‑function relationships and develop reusable technical frameworks that enable multiple pipeline products.
• Design and optimize complex formulations for snack and confectionery applications.
• Investigate texture stability, moisture migration, hydrolysis risks, glass transition behavior, and shelf‑life quality indicators.
• Conduct structured root‑cause analysis for technical performance issues and translate findings into scalable formulation strategies.
• Evaluate processing parameters (e.g., heating time, vacuum, Brix, pH, Aw) to ensure technical robustness and identify potential scalability constraints early in development.
• Support pilot‑scale validation and collaborate with commercialization teams as needed.
• Design preliminary accelerated and real‑time stability studies and establish quality benchmarks for texture, moisture, color, and API ingredients.
• Partner with Product Development during transition from research to commercialization.
• Provide technical input to embedded analytical and compliance resources and support supplier technical assessments and ingredient validation.
• Maintain accurate and complete formulation documentation in designated systems.
• Develop detailed technical reports and risk assessments for internal review.

• Master’s degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemistry, or related field.
• 2–4+ years of experience in snack and/or confectionery and/or gummy and/or bars R&D.
• Strong knowledge of hydrocolloids, fiber systems, sugar reduction systems, and moisture control mechanisms.
• Experience in pilot plant or manufacturing scale‑up environments preferred.

• Medical, Dental and Vision Benefits
• Life Insurance
• 401(k)
• PTO
• Company Paid Holidays
• Career advancement and training