Food Scientist II

Westrock Coffee Company; Bryant (AR); On-site; USD 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Westrock Coffee Company seeks a Food Scientist II to develop new products across coffee, tea, and extracts from concept to commercialization. You will collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams to innovate, optimize, and customize ingredients while supporting sales and customer needs.

The role requires hands-on development, sensory evaluation, regulatory awareness, and the ability to scale from bench to production.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Food Engineering or related field.
• Minimum of 3 years of Product Development experience; or equivalent education/experience.
• Strong understanding of food science principles.
• Adept sensory skills and knowledge of sensory evaluation techniques.
• Experience with nutritional data generation and regulatory requirements (USDA/FDA).
• Knowledge of SQF quality systems and related requirements.

Responsibilities

• Ideate and develop new product prototypes and optimize existing products.
• Improve product attributes and optimize processing parameters for better efficiency and yields.
• Maintain formulas, label development, production processes, HACCP, and product specs.
• Lead product development on cross-functional teams and support sales/customer needs.
• Oversee bench-to-production scale-up and conduct trials; provide action recommendations.
• Provide technical support to customers on product application and usage levels.
• Travel with sales for customer demonstrations and assist R&D on site.

Skills

Sensory analysis

Analytical skills

Data management

Travel willingness

Regulatory knowledge

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Food Science/related field

Job description

Working independently, the Food Scientist II is responsible for the development of new products across Coffee, Tea and Extracts from concept to commercialization. Requires work with multi-disciplinary groups to innovate, optimize and customize food ingredients. Consults directly with sales and customers to meet expectations. This position reports to the Product Development Manager.

Primary Job Functions:

• Product Development
• Project Requests
• Commercialization
• Technical Support
• Trade show planning and attendance
• Raw material assessment
• Additional tasks or projects outside "core" responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

• Ideate and develop new product prototypes and optimization to existing products
• Improve existing products by optimizing product attributes
• Develop and maintain accurate records related to the products such as formulas, label development, production process, HACCP, product specification, nutritional data, shelf life, etc.
• Participate on product development teams and cross-functional teams to be the Product Development advocate as applicable
• Independently completes project requests as assigned on-time
• Provide application samples and usage recommendations, as needed
• Tracks project trends and optimizes processes for product development
• Oversee scale-up from bench to production trials
• Develop processing parameters with current equipment for better efficiency and yields
• Troubleshoot trials and provide recommendations for corrective action
• Provide technical support to customers seeking product information and advice as it pertains to product application/usage levels
• Travel independently with Salesperson on customer demonstrations; work with R&D on site.
• Demonstrate knowledge of field protocols and procedures that support products and solutions to Westrock customers
• Provide comprehensive reports on complex data analysis and summaries
• Serve as Product Development lead on trade show planning teams
• Provide technical assistance to sales in the trade show booth
• Evaluate, approve, and analyze risk of new or existing ingredients
• Evaluate new raw materials and conduct sensory analysis with a cross-functional group.
• Evaluate technical specification documentation for compliance with Westrock requirements
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Food Engineering or related field or relevant industry experience.
• Minimum of 3 years of Product Development experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Strong understanding of food science principles
• Adept Sensory skills and knowledge of sensory evaluation techniques.
• Experience and knowledge with nutritional data generation and regulatory requirements from USDA and FDA as well as State and local health and food safety code.
• Knowledge of SQF quality systems and related requirements.
• Combination of strong analytical skills and creative thinking.
• Must have excellent PC computer skills and ability to manage data electronically.
• Self-motivated, outgoing, self-starter
• Must be hard working, reliable and accurate, and able to produce quality lab work at high work load.
• Must be willing to travel when needed.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Vets / Disabled