Food Scientist

The Food Scientist is an individual contributor responsible for leading new food product development from initial concept through commercial production. This role translates customer and marketing requirements into benchtop formulations, pilot batches, plant trials, and successful commercial launches, with a strong emphasis on hands-on work in active manufacturing environments. The position focuses on bakery, pastry, frozen dessert, and related systems, ensuring products are technically sound, commercially viable, and consistently reproducible at scale.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end development of new food products, translating customer and marketing briefs into commercially viable formulations.
• Create and refine benchtop prototypes and conduct pilot-scale testing to optimize product performance.
• Apply food science principles to optimize ingredient functionality, sensory attributes, product stability, and manufacturability.
• Develop bakery and dessert systems, including doughs, laminated and crumb crusts, fruit fillings, custards and cream systems, emulsions, stabilizers, and freeze-thaw products.
• Design and formulate private-label products based on customer specifications, target attributes, manufacturing capabilities, and price points.
• Own the full development lifecycle for new products, including concept, benchtop, pilot, plant trials, scale-up, first commercial runs, and post-launch specification runs.
• Lead plant-scale trials and troubleshoot issues involving formulas, ingredients, equipment, or manufacturing processes.
• Be present onsite during critical first production runs to ensure successful scale-up and reproducibility.
• Translate benchtop formulations into robust, repeatable commercial manufacturing processes.
• Document lessons learned, process changes, and corrective actions following trials to support continuous improvement.
• Develop and validate shelf-life requirements for new and existing products.
• Evaluate key shelf-life parameters such as water activity, pH, freeze-thaw stability, thaw-and-serve performance, and microbiological shelf life.
• Collaborate with Quality teams and third-party laboratories to validate product code dates and shelf-life claims.
• Immediately escalate any food safety, allergen, or labeling concerns to appropriate stakeholders.
• Support nutritional analysis and regulatory labeling activities for new and existing products.
• Review ingredient statements and allergen declarations to ensure accuracy and compliance.
• Verify packaging proofs to confirm that labeling, claims, and ingredient information are correct.
• Ensure finished product specifications align with applicable food safety and regulatory requirements.
• Partner with Quality to establish finished product standards and specifications, including written specifications, product tolerances, reference photographs, preparation instructions, and baking instructions.
• Ensure products manufactured across multiple facilities meet consistent quality and performance standards.
• Build Bills of Material (BOMs) for new products and maintain accurate formulation documentation.
• Calculate and evaluate ingredient costs, partnering with Finance to ensure formulations meet margin expectations.
• Reformulate products when necessary to meet cost targets while maintaining product quality and integrity.
• Provide technical support to Sales for private-label product development and customer discussions.
• Partner with Purchasing and Quality to evaluate and qualify new ingredients and suppliers.
• Support ingredient qualification testing and develop secondary sources for critical ingredients.
• Assess ingredient functionality, quality, cost, and manufacturing performance to ensure reliable supply and product consistency.
• Serve as a technical R&D resource when production issues arise, supporting active manufacturing operations.
• Diagnose formulation, ingredient, process, or equipment variables that affect finished product quality.
• Develop corrective actions, implement changes, and document updates to prevent recurrence of production issues.
• Work cross-functionally with Production, Quality, Sales, Purchasing, and Finance to support successful product launches and ongoing manufacturing.
• Travel periodically to other manufacturing facilities to support trials, first runs, and ongoing production needs.

Requirements

• Degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Culinary Science, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional pastry credentials combined with demonstrated commercial formulation experience.
• At least 3 years of food product development, R&D, or culinary development experience within a commercial food manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated experience taking products from concept or benchtop through pilot trials, plant trials, scale-up, and full commercialization.
• Strong formulation skills and hands-on troubleshooting abilities in an active manufacturing environment.
• Experience developing product specifications, formulas, and manufacturing processes for commercial food products.
• Solid understanding of food manufacturing and scale-up principles, including the transition from lab to plant.
• Working knowledge of food safety requirements, GMP principles, allergens, nutritional analysis, and FDA labeling regulations.
• Ability to review and support accurate ingredient statements, allergen declarations, and regulatory labeling.
• Experience building Bills of Material (BOMs) and evaluating formulation and ingredient costs.
• Comfort working within active food production facilities, including participation in plant trials and first production runs.
• Ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams, including Production, Quality, Sales, Purchasing, and Finance.
• Demonstrated skills in bakery and frozen dessert product development, including dough and crust formulation and fruit fillings.
• Valid driver's license and ability to travel up to 25%, including multi-day trips to manufacturing facilities.
• Strong experimental design, problem-solving, and analytical skills for formulation and process troubleshooting.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills for documentation, specifications, and cross-functional collaboration.

Additional Qualifications

• Bakery, pastry, pie, or frozen dessert development experience in a commercial setting.
• Strong understanding of bakery ingredient functionality and how ingredients interact in complex systems.
• Hands-on experience with doughs, crust systems, fillings, custards, emulsions, stabilizers, and hydrocolloids.
• Experience developing freeze-thaw stable products and thaw-and-serve items.
• Experience in private-label food manufacturing and customer-driven product development.
• Familiarity with HACCP, PCQI, or SQF programs; related certifications are a plus.
• Experience supporting multiple manufacturing facilities and ensuring product consistency across sites.
• Ability to interpret and apply FDA labeling requirements and related regulatory standards.
• Comfort with traveling regularly to support plant trials and production runs at remote facilities.
• Interest in contributing to the growth and modernization of an expanding R&D laboratory and product portfolio.

Work Environment

This role is based onsite in Silverton, Oregon, working primarily in an R&D laboratory and active food production facilities. The position follows Monday–Friday standard business hours, with occasional flexibility to support plant trials and first production runs as needed. The R&D lab is scheduled for an expansion and renovation at the end of 2026, which will include a dedicated private office for the Food Scientist and an upgraded workspace. The work environment involves frequent interaction with production lines, equipment, and bakery and dessert manufacturing processes, requiring comfort in active plant settings. Travel to manufacturing facilities in Georgia occurs approximately once a month for up to three days at a time, typically a few months after hire to allow time for onboarding and local integration. This is a permanent, fully onsite position. Application deadline: November 3, 2026.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $80,000 – $90,000 per year. Individual compensation offered within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

• Annual performance bonus
• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance