Dairy R&D Scientist: Product Innovation & Plant Trials

Berner Food & Beverage; Dakota (IL); On-site; USD 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401k

Job summary

Berner Food & Beverage is seeking an R&D Scientist to formulate milk/dairy-based beverages and cheese products from prototype to commercialization. You will help develop customer specs, nutrition panels, and ingredient statements while ensuring FDA/USDA identity and label compliance.

Build strong customer relations and collaborate across functions to run production trials and provide operations support. The role emphasizes hands-on lab work, cross-functional teamwork, and delivering high-quality

Qualifications

• Minimum B.S. in Food Science or Nutrition; Master’s preferred in Dairy Science.
• 1–5 years of food product development and commercialization experience.
• Solid understanding of emulsions, milk & whey proteins, food safety, and allergens.
• Ability to discriminate flavors; strong communication and deadline-driven.

Responsibilities

• Develop new products, optimize existing products, and adapt customer formulas.
• Produce benchtop samples and evaluate for shipment to customers.
• Set up formulas and processes for plant trials and production.
• Work cross-functionally with Operations, Procurement, and Quality to conduct trials.
• Provide product information to support customer requirements.
• Create product specifications, ingredient statements, and Nutrition Facts panels meeting FDA/USDA requirements.
• Leverage outside resources to recommend new technology platforms for beverage dev.
• Maintain beverage lab and pilot plant, overseeing inventories and equipment upkeep.
• Provide technical support and leadership to Operations.
• Assist with thermal processing studies in production retorts.
• Ensure documentation of formulas and parameters to meet LACF requirements.

Skills

Product development

Dairy science

Food safety

Attention to detail

Cross-functional

Excel

Project management

Education

B.S. in Food Science

Master's in Dairy Science

Tools

None

Job description

Berner Food & Beverage is seeking an R&D Scientist to formulate milk/dairy-based beverages and cheese products from prototype to commercialization. You will help develop customer specs, nutrition panels, and ingredient statements while ensuring FDA/USDA identity and label compliance.

Build strong customer relations and collaborate across functions to run production trials and provide operations support. The role emphasizes hands-on lab work, cross-functional teamwork, and delivering high-quality