Sr. Food Scientist

The Sr. Food Scientist will be technically sound, creative and will be responsible for formulation and processing support of new customer business across multiple plants within the Tandem Foods network. This role has a heavy emphasis on production support, and the Sr. Food Scientist must be comfortable and confident supporting a production environment. A successful candidate will lead by providing technical support both at the benchtop and plant level. This position will focus on owning new product pipeline projects and formulation initiatives with attention on building relationships with new customers and working collaboratively across all functions of the organization.

Key Responsibilities
• Lead formulation development and processing support for new and existing customer projects across multiple manufacturing sites.
• Expected to be the technical expert on R&D subject matter to support production through the commercialization process and beyond to provide ongoing support to plant operations
• Troubleshoot challenges in formulation and process that are mindful of safety and costs while providing timely and effective solutions
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Sales, Operations, and Food Safety and Quality to align technical solutions with business objectives
• Work closely with customers to ensure product expectations are achieved and relationships are strengthened
• Plan, execute, and summarize plant trials for internal and external customers
• Preparation and execution of all related technical and business documentation
• Maintain accurate documentation of formulations, test results, and project progress
• Interact with ingredient suppliers to onboard new raw materials and trouble shoot formulation challenges
• Creative thinker with the ability to translate into stable product formulation
• Create new snack products utilizing Genesis as a formulation tool
• Present new formulation concepts to our sales team for external customer presentations
• Stay abreast of new ingredient developments as well as processing and equipment advances applying them to enhance project work
• Participate in sensory evaluation to drive decisions that are best for our customers
• Ability to taste and screen ingredients and finished products without dietary limitations
 

Key Competencies
• Creative Thinking: Thinks outside the box, contributes ideas for new product concepts with the ability to bring them to life
• Customer Focus: Understands and monitors the needs of internal and external customers
• Adaptable / Flexible: Open to change in response to new information, different or unexpected circumstances
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Ability to work in a dynamic team environment
• Self-Starter: Takes initiative in developing programs to conform with set standards, focusing on continual improvement
• Problem-Solving: Prevents and solves issues from a technical prospective, understand and mitigates problems, recognizes cause and effect relationships between functions
• Project and Time Management: Plans tasks and deliverables accurately, prioritizes tasks and adapts as needed and is responsive to requests and accountable for actions
 

Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree in food science or another science-based field
• 5-8 Years’ experience in a product development position preferably in a manufacturing environment
• Strong understanding of food formulation, ingredient functionality, and processing technologies
• Effective interpersonal and written communication skills with the ability to build relationships cross-functionally and externally
• Strong working knowledge of the food industry
• Excellent problem-solving, organizational and prioritization skills
• Experience with formulating protein bars, baked products and / or confections
• Proficient in MS Office suite including Excel and PowerPoint
• Working knowledge of Genesis
• Familiarity with regulatory requirements (FDA, etc.)
• Willingness to travel to manufacturing sites and customer locations as needed
 

Work Environment
• This role works in office, R&D lab, and manufacturing floor environments
• Evening and weekend work may be required on an as needed basis
• 20-25% travel
• 85% production support
• 15% R&D benchtop work (formulation review /concept creation)
• Responsible for keeping workspace clean and organized (wash lab utensils and maintain ingredient inventory)
• Responsible for R&D shipments (UPS /FedEx)