Principal Scientist

Job Duties And Responsibilities

• Research dairy science, food science and equipment for the purpose of innovating new technologies and the development of intellectual property (IP) for DFADevelop new wet and dry dairy systems, dairy flavors, dairy emulsions and solutions using DFA’s plethora of ingredient options and manufacturing capabilities
• Reformulate products and streamline processes appropriate to reduce cost
• Perform applications testing simulating the customer’s end use to ensure the products developed exceed the customer’s expectations for taste, functionality, and nutrition
• Utilize sensory science tools, available in the Innovation Center, to give data points to the customer demonstrating expectations are met/exceeded
• Perform pilot plant testing to ensure a successful scale-up for DFA manufacturing and ultimately the end customer
• Drive the commercialization of new products by partnering with the process technology team in the plants
• Support the customer in scale up and commercialization to ensure DFA people and products are part of the scale up and launch
• Effectively operate pilot plant equipment, for new products, cheeses, flavors and emulsion systems development.
• Develop effective concepts for benchtop sessions, in partnership with sales, to generate wins with customers
• Support sales in determining customer needs, problems, insights, and strategy that would ultimately require a DFA solution
• Proactively initiate action plans to maintain, improve and develop the DFA solutions and capabilities
• Partner with sales to understand customer’s future needs, their brands, and strategies to anticipate new areas of capability development and innovative ideas for end use categories
• Drive opportunities to commercialization internally and close with the customer
• Co-create and effectively utilize the product lifecycle management (PLM) process and adhere to the Scientific Development Standards Process, including version control, development notes and documented learnings
• Effectively utilize CRM (Salesforce.com) as a tool to manage status of the opportunities, project milestones in the pipeline and track KPIs related to the opportunity pipeline continually improving our R&D service to customers, ultimately leading to faster speed-to-market driving increased customer connectivity
• Collaborate with and influence technical sales, customer support and other stakeholders to “solve for yes”
• Contribute to technical content and make and review presentations for commercialization activities
• Provide effective, timely and relevant reporting to leadership

Requirements

• B.S. Degree in food, dairy or biological science related discipline
• Masters or PHD desirable
• 8+ years of industry experience in R&D
• Proven career advancement in dairy flavors, natural, process and cheese sauces and products
• Demonstrated staff leadership attributes or staff management experience
• Proven successful track record in new product development with multiple examples of commercialized products/solutions directly or under your leadership
• Desired areas of expertise:
• Fermentation and enzyme modification of dairy products and ingredients for flavor and functionality improvement or development
• Knowledge of flavor compounding utilizing paste and liquid flavor systems
• Working and advanced knowledge of natural, processed cheeses and dairy sauces’ manufacturing
• Excellent knowledge of dairy flavors application across the food and dairy industries and market segments
• Ability to create paste, liquid and dry flavor formulations and products
• Dairy science and Dairy Microbiology Knowledge

Skills And Abilities

• Food safety programs and food safety by design
• Food regulatory & labeling laws including both: USDA & FDAS
• Strong leadership and team building abilities
• Exceptional communication skills
• Ability to solve complex customer demands and problems
• Self-driven and committed to hands on work habits
• Able to read, write, and speak English

Travel

• 15%-25% (1-2 times per quarter)