R&D Scientist, USA

About the role

We're looking for an R&D Scientist to lead new product development from early-stage idea through commercialization across our portfolio of organic and better-for-you foods. And the timing is pretty exciting: we're just a few months away from completing our custom-built, state-of-the-art R&D lab in Oak Brook. You'll be one of the first scientists to work in the new space and help bring it to life! Reporting to the AVP, Research & Development, this role combines hands-on product development with manufacturing scale-up, commercialization and cross-functional partnership.

Responsibilities

• Lead product innovation
• Lead new product development projects from concept and formulation through commercialization
• Develop prototypes across multiple product categories and present concepts to Marketing, leadership and other stakeholders
• Design and execute product development experiments, interpret results and recommend next steps
• Stay current on emerging food technologies, ingredients, processing methods and industry trends
• Improve existing products through ingredient, nutritional, cost and product-quality optimization
• Take products from bench to production
• Translate bench-top concepts into commercially viable products and manufacturing processes
• Lead plant trials, scale-ups and new product start-ups with company manufacturing sites and co-manufacturing partners
• Establish processing parameters and work with Plant Operations to optimize production runs
• Lead pre- and post-production reviews for new product launches
• Travel to Nature's Path manufacturing facilities and external partners for trials, scale-up and product support, up to 25%
• Build the technical foundation
• Develop formulations, product specifications, ingredient specifications, processing parameters and label declarations
• Manage nutritional information and nutritional database entries for new and revised products
• Coordinate third-party laboratory testing and partner with Quality on shelf-life testing and deviations
• Maintain accurate product-development documentation and company systems
• Apply working knowledge of food regulations, including USDA Organic requirements and California Proposition 65, while building knowledge of requirements in other global markets
• Partner across the business
• Serve as an R&D subject matter expert throughout the product-development process
• Partner with Finance and Supply Chain to develop product P&Ls and assess commercial feasibility
• Work with Supply Chain to evaluate alternative ingredients and suppliers while protecting quality and product performance
• Create product samples for Sales, Marketing and leadership as required
• Balance multiple development projects and commercialization timelines

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Culinary Science or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant food-industry experience
• 4+ years of new product development experience, including taking products from idea through commercialization
• Experience formulating better-for-you products, including USDA Organic products
• Hands-on experience with food manufacturing and scale-up
• Experience with cereal extrusion, baking and/or snack manufacturing is preferred
• Experience working within a stage-gate product-development process is an asset
• Experience with a nutritional database is required
• Familiarity with PLM systems, supply chain software, Microsoft Office and/or Asana is helpful
• Experience within a large CPG organization, high-growth food company or start-up environment is an asset

Why this role

You'll have the opportunity to influence products from the earliest idea through the moment they reach full-scale production, while helping shape how we innovate in a brand-new R&D environment built for what comes next.

Pay & Schedule

• Oak Brook, Illinois | Monday–Thursday onsite & Friday remote
• $90,000–$100,000 base salary + 10% annual bonus