Senior Cocoa & Chocolate Scientist - Innovation Focus

Protea Recruitment Ltd | Food | Drinks | FMCG Recruitment Partner; Slough; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Protea Recruitment Ltd in London is recruiting a Senior Cocoa & Chocolate Scientist for a global FMCG R&D and technology function. You will drive cocoa and chocolate technology development, translating science into scalable products and innovative solutions.

The role focuses on long-term platforms, sustainability, and breakthrough ingredient innovations within confectionery and baked categories. Strong collaboration with internal teams and external partners is required.

Qualifications

• Strong technical understanding of cocoa and chocolate technologies.
• Experience working within confectionery, chocolate or ingredient-led FMCG environments.
• Knowledge of chocolate processing, formulation and scale-up.
• Hands-on pilot plant and factory trial experience.
• Strong problem-solving and technical troubleshooting capability.
• Experience working cross-functionally within fast-paced innovation environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and optimisation of cocoa blends and chocolate systems across confectionery and baked applications.
• Build and share technical expertise around cocoa processing methods, materials science and emerging technologies.
• Support breakthrough innovation projects focused on sustainability, functionality and product performance.
• Lead bench development, pilot plant trials and factory scale-up activities.
• Provide technical solutions to product and processing challenges.
• Collaborate closely with procurement, sensory, supply chain, quality and commercial teams.
• Work with external suppliers and technology partners to identify new opportunities and best practices.
• Support the development of proprietary technologies and patentable innovation opportunities.
• Manage technical project plans and support delivery of long-term innovation roadmaps.

Skills

Cocoa tech

Chocolate processing

Pilot plant

Cross-functional

Problem-solving

Stakeholder management

Sustainability

Job description

Protea Recruitment Ltd in London is recruiting a Senior Cocoa & Chocolate Scientist for a global FMCG R&D and technology function. You will drive cocoa and chocolate technology development, translating science into scalable products and innovative solutions.

The role focuses on long-term platforms, sustainability, and breakthrough ingredient innovations within confectionery and baked categories. Strong collaboration with internal teams and external partners is required.