Senior Application Scientist

General Summary

Under minimal supervision, the Senior Application Scientist serves as a technical expert in the formulation, application, and optimization of natural colors across diverse food and beverage systems. This role provides high-level technical guidance, drives complex development projects, and partners with commercial and global innovation teams to deliver customer-focused solutions. The Senior Application Scientist is a key contributor to strategic growth initiatives, customer success, and cross-functional technical excellence within Oterra.

• Leads complex, multi-phase application projects, ensuring timely execution, technical accuracy, and alignment with customer and business objectives.
• Serves as a senior technical advisor to U.S. and global customers, providing expert-level guidance on the use, stability, processing, and performance of Oterra’s natural color portfolio.
• Delivers on-site customer support at both laboratory and production-plant levels, including troubleshooting, scale-up support, and commercialization assistance.
• Partners strategically with Account Managers to retain and grow key business, identify technical opportunities, influence customer decision-making, and support long-term commercial relationships.
• Champions safety practices, modeling and reinforcing safe laboratory behavior and compliance with all corporate and regulatory guidelines.
• Develops advanced technical presentations, demonstrations, and training materials for internal teams, customers, and industry events.
• Conducts sophisticated analytical testing—including colorimetric evaluations, formulation trials, and stability assessments to support data-driven decisions and customer recommendations.
• Provides high-quality technical documentation, including project plans, experimental results, and formal technical reports for internal stakeholders and customer use.
• Maintains and enhances relevant technical databases, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and efficient knowledge-sharing.
• Authors, updates, and enforces technical SOPs, best practices, and standardized testing protocols.
• Collaborates with cross-functional teams—R&D, Product Management, Marketing, Operations, Quality, and Regulatory—to support new product development, application guidelines, and optimized customer solutions.
• Supports sample preparation activities as required, particularly for high-priority customer or innovation projects.
• Mentors junior scientists and technicians, providing guidance on experimental design, technical problem-solving, and best practices in application science.
• Participates in strategic initiatives that shape Oterra’s future product roadmap, application capabilities, and customer experience.

• MS or PhD in Food Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related discipline; or a BS degree with significant relevant experience.
• Minimum of 7–10 years of experience in food and beverage formulation, product development, application science, or a related technical field.
• Deep understanding of food and beverage processing across multiple application categories (e.g., beverages, dairy, snacks, confectionery, prepared foods).
• Exceptional color discrimination and visual acuity; strong ability to evaluate color in a wide range of application systems. (Color vision testing required.)
• Advanced technical communication skills, with the ability to present complex concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to design experiments, interpret data, draw conclusions, and communicate actionable insights.
• Proven ability to lead projects independently while collaborating effectively in cross-functional and global environments.
• Customer-centric mindset with the ability to build strong relationships and influence technical decisions.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and capable of managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced setting.
• Proficiency with laboratory equipment, formulation tools, colorimetry, and digital documentation systems.

Working environment is generally favorable and in an office setting. Lighting,…