Sr. R&D Scientist
$115,000–$120,000 year
On-site · Eden Prairie, Minnesota, United States
Job Summary
Lead new product development projects from concept through commercialization for ready-to-eat foods (sandwiches, wraps, handheld meals). Translate culinary concepts into scalable products with strong consumer appeal, clear differentiation, and operational feasibility. Drive innovation, product renovations, quality improvements, cost savings, ingredient substitutions, and productivity initiatives. Design and execute experiments, analyze data, draw conclusions, and provide sound technical recommendations. Develop product formulas, processing instructions, specifications, technical documentation. Lead culinary standard development, bench top prototypes, plant trials and first production runs. Apply food science principles related to flavor, texture, moisture migration, water activity, pH, shelf life, and food safety. Integrate culinary thinking into product design, flavor development, ingredient selection, and consumer experience. Present concepts, prototypes, technical updates, and recommendations to cross functional leaders, customers and business partners. Serve as a technical subject matter expert during customer meetings, product presentations, and internal project team meetings. Influence cross-functional teams and guide decisions using data, sensory findings, technical knowledge, and business priorities. Mentor junior scientists, technologists, technicians, and cross-functional partners to build technical capability and execution discipline. Maintain accurate formulas, project files, trial reports, test data, specifications, and commercialization documents. Monitor industry trends, new ingredients, processing technology, packaging formats, culinary trends, and competitive products.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Culinary Science, Food Engineering or related field
- 7 or more years of product development experience in the food industry
- Strong culinary foundation with ability to translate culinary concepts into scalable commercial products
- Hands-on experience developing ready-to-eat foods, prepared meals, sandwiches, wraps, bakery-based foods, meat systems, cheese applications, sauces, spreads, or related CPG food products
- Experience leading products from concept, bench development, prototype creation, plant trials, and commercialization
- Strong understanding of ingredient functionality, formulation, food safety, shelf life, sensory evaluation, and manufacturing scale up
- Strong sensory evaluation skills and ability to give clear direction on flavor, texture, appearance, aroma and eating experience
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