R&D Food Scientist

Description

Seeking an R&D Food Scientist to support the development and optimization of meat-based products across beef, pork, and poultry platforms. This role partners closely with Operations, Quality, and Supply Chain to formulate new products, improve existing formulas, and support commercialization from benchtop through full-scale production in a USDA-regulated manufacturing environment.

• Lead product development activities for meat proteins and complementary components such as sauces, marinades, dips, and spreads.
• Evaluate and qualify ingredients, suppliers, and co-manufacturers to support product and cost objectives.
• Drive projects from concept through plant trials and commercialization, providing hands-on technical support during scale-up.
• Design and execute experiments to improve formulations, enhance yields, or increase manufacturing throughput.
• Analyze production and trial data to assess process capability, efficiencies, and opportunities for improvement.
• Conduct sensory evaluations, shelf-life studies, benchmarking, and continuous quality improvement testing.
• Monitor market trends and competitive products to identify innovation or renovation opportunities.
• Provide accurate formulation and ingredient data to support nutritional analysis, labeling, and regulatory documentation.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to define processing requirements, equipment needs, and raw material specifications.
• Develop, optimize, and troubleshoot formulations and processes using sound food science methodologies.

Requirements

Must-Have Skillset: Must come from a meat processing environment

• Working knowledge of ingredient functionality, flavor systems, and formulation principles.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and capable of managing multiple development projects.
• 3–5 years of product development experience in food manufacturing.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Food Science, or a related discipline.
• Familiarity with supplier sourcing, ingredient qualification, and co-manufacturing environments.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively across functions.
• Hands-on experience developing USDA-regulated meat products (beef, pork, or poultry).
• Experience with nutritional labeling software (e.g., ESHA Genesis) preferred.

Benefits

Benefits: PTO, Paid Holidays, Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance, 401(k)

Hire Type: Direct Hire, Onsite

Salary Range: $85,000 - $100,000/year (plus bonus)

Training + Development

Interview process

Visa Sponsorship

Security clearance