Product Development Scientist

About the role

The Food Scientist position leverages scientific training and industrial experience to develop and scale-up new products for the food and beverage market. This role tackles projects with meaningful technical complexity, ensuring diligence in the development, scale-up, and commercialization of innovative products that meet business goals.

Responsibilities

• Lead and champion a culture of safety across all activities
• Develop new products in the food and beverage space, including beverage and frozen dessert bases, variegates, coatings, and lipid-based inclusions. This includes sourcing of ingredients and documents, as well as evaluating and mitigating potential risks (costing, lead times, minimum order quantities, etc).
• Create benchtop prototypes for both internal and external customers that utilize flavors, colors, stabilizers, and other ingredients to create delivery systems customized to specific customer requirements as well as current food trends.
• Oversee production of newly commercialized products and monitor initial batches to ensure a successful scale-up.
• Drive the conceptualization, development, and commercialization of new products.
• Support cross-functional internal initiatives including, but not limited to, cost reduction initiatives, production efficiencies, and quality improvements.
• Optimize and validate functional performance and sensory properties of various food products.
• Conduct product testing, including sensory analysis and analytical testing, as well as review and analyze resulting data.
• Help manage and maintain inventory of ingredients and supplies which may include obtaining materials from Balchem’s warehouse.
• Support the commercial team by translating unmet consumer needs into actionable scientific and technological insights.
• Execute experiments to create technical data supporting the business's commercial strategy.
• Exhibit conceptual, creative, and analytic problem-solving abilities, the ability to break down complex issues and simplify by focusing on what matters.
• Provide technical support to customers, sales teams, and internal departments on products and technologies with guidance from senior members of the team.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Sales, Operations, Quality, Regulatory, and relevant stakeholders to achieve cross-functional business objectives.
• Deliver written and oral reports on project status, experimental results, and technical recommendations.
• Take an independent and disciplined approach to organizing work activity, prioritizing tasks, and analysis; seek out additional projects and activities to drive the business forward.
• Ensure the integrity of the R&D laboratory through accurate record-keeping, test design, and adherence to sanitary practices.
• Utilize various software systems including Microsoft Office as well as other software systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Food Science or a related scientific field with 4+ years of experience in new product development, or a Master's degree with 2+ years of relevant experience.
• Knowledge of bakery products including breads, muffins, cookies, cakes, etc is a plus.
• Proven track record in product formulation including use of flavors, colors, and stabilizers; specification creation; commercialization; and new technology development while demonstrating a history of delivering winning results.
• Strong understanding of functional and sensory evaluation methods.
• Advanced problem solving, data analysis, and evaluation skills.
• Ability to learn new categories quickly, navigate in a complex, fast-paced business environment and manage and prioritize multiple projects while delivering high-quality results.
• Commitment to continuous learning and staying current with industry trends and innovations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated ability to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams (Marketing, Operations and Manufacturing, Quality and Regulatory) and Senior Management.
• Proficiency with computer software, including MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook) and product formulation tools.

Pay

Competitive salary and benefits package.

Schedule

Full-time position.