Product Development Technician III

Your Story

Under the direction of Product Development Scientist, Technology Principal or R&D Manager/Director this role prepares food formulations, samples and prototypes. Diversified work requiring judgment; independent thinking, and interpretation when only general procedures or precedents are applicable.

At Sargento, you work for a company you believe in, with a family of people who believe in you. Our culture stems from a simple premise:
Hire good people and treat them like family. At Sargento, you can make decisions based on how they affect people as well as the long-term health of our company. You will be encouraged to make a meaningful difference in the community, in the company and in your career. With diverse experiences and tools to learn and develop, you can transform your aspirations into reality.

If you’re ready for the right place to belong and grow your career, you can find it here.

• Comprehensive medical including Fertility, Adoption benefits, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Onsite Health & Wellness Center
• Employer 401K contribution in the top 1% of the nation
• Tuition Assistance
• Access to Employee Store

• Operates frozen, sauce and cheese manufacturing equipment in the pilot plant with minimal direction.
• Schedule test runs, orders ingredients, collects and analyzes samples for physical and chemical properties like pH, moisture, salt, fat, water activity, viscosity, etc.
• Prepares equipment, raw materials and assist in plant trials. Prepares and packs plant test checklist.
• Manage requests and coordinate various tasks from scientists daily.
• Prepares and maintains inventory of products and raw materials.
• Manage sample inventory, rotation, and data records for product shelf life evaluations.
• Basic Competency in at least 1-2 areas of products in the business such as the following:
  Frying, ingredient science, seasonings, batters and breading, formed and extruded products, sensory, cheese make and cheese conversion, functional foods, sauces and fillings, milk processing for cheese make.
• Documentation of batch codes for track & trace, formula procedure and manufacturing instructions.
• Tracks and purchases competitive products for competitive testing and category appraisal.
• Leads freezer and storage cleanups.
• Contact person for the scientist when out in the field to handle product, raw materials and equipment requests.
• Evaluate and summarize experiments.
• Anticipates project demands and requests, plans ahead and acts upon them.
• Makes independent observations and communicates them to the corresponding scientist.
• Performs searches and archiving.
• Communicates project results.
• Conducts simple data trend analysis and writes a written report.
• Initiate own action plans, contributes to testing designs.
• Travel to support company business functions, operations, experiments, and training
• Occasional overnight stays required
• Other duties may be assigned

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand, walk, talk or hear, and taste or smell. The employee is occasionally required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, and ability to adjust focus.
• The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently exposed to moving mechanical parts. The employee is occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions, fumes or airborne particles, toxic or caustic chemicals, extreme cold, and risk of electrical shock. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

• High School Diploma is required
• 3+ years experience with kitchen, ingredients, and lab experience
• Two-year degree in food science field preferred.
• Proficient in PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, & Excel.

• Strong interpersonal skills and effective in building strong relationships across the organization at all levels with varying personalities.

With over 2,400+ employees and net sales of nearly $1.8 billion, Sargento is a family-owned company that has been a leader in cheese for more than 70 years. We created the world’s first, successful pre-packaged sliced and shredded natural cheeses. Sargento is based in Plymouth, Wisconsin, where we manufacture and market…