Food Scientist

Our client is seeking an R&D Food Scientist in New Jersey with relocation assistance available. This role focuses on bakery product development, commercialization, and process improvement.

About the role

The R&D Food Scientist develops new products for various baking applications and supports manufacturing operations to scale up technology. This role provides technical expertise to bakery products, enhances process capability, and drives continuous improvement initiatives from problem identification through full implementation. The scientist partners closely with R&D, Quality, Regulatory, Procurement, and Operations to ensure all new product development projects meet safety, regulatory, and customer requirements.

Responsibilities

• Analyze current bakery formulations and production processes to identify opportunities for improvement in product quality, consistency, shelf life, and cost efficiency.
• Develop and optimize bakery products (e.g., breads, cakes, cookies, pastries, tortillas, etc.) through formulation adjustments, ingredient selection, and process enhancements.
• Support scale-up and commercialization of new products from bench-top to pilot and full-scale manufacturing.
• Collaborate with Operations to troubleshoot production challenges such as dry mix handling, functional performance, color defects, and product variability.
• Partner with cross-functional teams (R&D, Quality, Regulatory, Operations, and Procurement) to ensure formulations meet sensory, regulatory, cost, and operational requirements.
• Evaluate functionality of raw materials including flours, starches, enzymes, emulsifiers, hydrocolloids, leavening systems, colors, and natural additives.
• Design and execute experiments to improve texture, flavor, shelf life, and overall product performance.
• Develop and maintain product specifications, batch sheets, SOPs, and processing parameters for bakery systems.
• Work closely with Quality to ensure compliance with food safety standards, regulatory requirements, and customer specifications.
• Support sensory evaluation, shelf-life studies, and stability testing of bakery products before commercialization of baking ingredient system and bases.
• Lead or support continuous improvement initiatives using data-driven methodologies to enhance product quality and manufacturing efficiency.
• Assist in ingredient cost optimization and reformulation efforts without compromising product quality.
• Support supplier qualification and validation of new ingredients.
• Train production and QA teams on new formulations, processes, and best practices for bakery manufacturing.
• Maintain accurate documentation for product development, validation, and audit readiness.
• Ensure adherence to GMPs, food safety standards (HACCP), OSHA safety requirements, and company quality policies.
• Manage multiple development and improvement projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
• Perform all job functions safely and in compliance with company policies.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Baking Science, Food Technology, Food Engineering, or a related field required; Master's degree is preferred.
• 3-5+ years of experience in product development or food science within the baking ingredients or food ingredients manufacturing or CPG industry.
• Strong understanding of bakery ingredient functionality, including flour systems, gluten development, enzymes, emulsifiers, sweeteners, and natural additives.
• Hands-on experience with bakery processing techniques such as mixing, fermentation, proofing, baking, and cooling.
• Experience with product scale-up, commercialization, and plant trials.
• Knowledge of dough rheology, texture analysis, and shelf-life optimization.
• Familiarity with clean label formulation and ingredient replacement strategies is a plus.
• Experience troubleshooting bakery production issues and improving product consistency.
• Working knowledge of food safety standards, GMPs, and regulatory requirements.

Benefits

• Competitive salary range: $110,000 to $130,000
• Comprehensive benefits package
• Advancement opportunities