Corporate Food Scientist

Primary Purpose of Job

This position is responsible for the back‑end development of menu items for QT, ensuring go‑to‑market readiness that work within QT's operational guardrails. It supports the Front‑End Development team and Food Innovation & Product Development Manager in product development and production scale, along with daily execution of R&D related activities (NPD/PLM). The role works directly with suppliers to commercialize menu items for the QT brand, evaluates current and alternative food ingredients, creates product recipes and leads equipment R&D to ensure QT meets customer needs and requirements, and provides periodical assistance to QA and Operations teams.

• Responsible for back‑end development testing and implementation of menu items. (40%)
• Lead Product &/or Platform Concepts through the final development stages.
• Validate New Supplier by evaluating product capabilities, which may include travel to supplier sites to evaluate production runs.
• Validate operational process and capabilities through experiments, analysis, and data interpretation to make sound food service operational recommendations.
• Develop a protocol to establish raw goods/material specifications for each menu item and key formulations for specific menu items manufactured for QT.
• Create & perform periodic testing to ensure specifications and key formulations are adhered to by CSM and suppliers to QT kitchens.
• Process improvement by monitoring product/platforms, inspecting procedures/processes used in all aspects of development and production to identify opportunities and efficiencies.
• Use root‑cause analysis to understand problems, possible causes, and solutions against product development projects, along with store employee, DOMA and consumer complaints to future‑proof the brand.
• Report all work and pertinent information through New Product Development (NPD) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system and serve as relief for Documents Control Coordinator.
• Manage multiple projects and priorities in a rapidly changing environment. (5%)
• Responsible for back‑end equipment engineering development and implementation for QT Food service programs to include QT kitchens and/or self‑serve and may include QTK manufacturing equipment testing. (30%)
• Interface with supporting teams to create testing parameters to achieve goals.
• Manage lab equipment and schedule testing.
• Calibrate and maintain test equipment.
• Execute equipment validation and various studies as directed by QT Food Innovation & Product Development Manager.
• Run QT & QTK equipment—document performance and test findings.
• Experimental design and data acquisition.
• Support product demonstrations.
• Collect and analyze equipment data and communicate to QT internal teams (Food Innovation & Product Development Manager, CSM, Operations, FS, Vice President of Sales, QA). This also includes QTK regional managers & QTK manager.
• Provide field support for FS & Operations in product and processing trials.
• Analyze operational data and provide recommendations.
• Work with Operations to collect labor/process data and build labor standards through trouble‑shooting guides and time & motion studies.
• Determine equipment capacities.
• Evaluate and provide human‑factor (ergonomic) recommendations.
• Sensory testing – define, analyze, and interpret data to make sound recommendations and assist in the creation of sensory test briefs, serving as a backup for sensory experiments when needed. (10%)
• Explore and recommend new methods/techniques/technologies for sensory/consumer research and advise best practices to Food Innovation & Product Development Manager. (5%)
• Innovate and/or adapt best practices from competition, vendors, new product developments, etc., and recommend to Food Innovation & Product Development Manager and Food Team/Sales staff. (10%)

• Be aware of industry developments with a focus on food science, sensory science R&D.
• Attend courses, seminars, and trade shows.
• Use suppliers as a resource.
• Be aware of and utilize new technology for new sales and lowering the cost of goods.

• Reports to:
  
  Food Innovation & Product Development…