Food Technologist

Wayne Farms LLC; Laurel (MS); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Wayne-Sanderson Farms seeks a Product Development Technologist to support the Food Concept & Development Mgrs in developing new poultry products and commercialization while ensuring regulatory compliance.

Responsibilities include benchtop prototype development, documentation, and coordinating plant scale-up activities within a cross-functional team in a fast-paced poultry environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science or closely related field from an accredited institution.

Responsibilities

• Support development of new poultry products and commercialization.
• Coordinate documentation and project progress across internal teams.
• Ensure regulatory and legal compliance for products.
• Assist with data entry and protocol preparation for commercialization.

Skills

Process improvement

Project management

Laboratory skills

Statistics

Computer literacy

Communication

Organization

Urgency

Education

Bachelor's degree in Food Science

Tools

Optiva

Job description

Job Summary

The Product Development Technologist supports and assists the Food Concept & Development Mgr(s) in the development of new product and commercialization to develop first class poultry derived products including ensuring compliance with all regulations and legal requirements.

Job Responsibilities

• Participate in product development projects including development of basic benchtop prototype products, interaction and communication with internal or external customers, and the development and maintenance of organized documentation processes, updating as necessary.
• Develop and improve the project summary process, reviewing unusual processes with appropriate personnel.
• Assist in the commercialization of products helping to ensure product and processes meet all internal guidelines and external regulatory and legal requirements.
• Perform required data entry/ modification required for the commercialization process of key projects in Optiva or other software including formula finalization, procurement of ingredient and packaging regulatory and purchasing documents, specification development, obtaining customer specification sign-off and validation of cooking or reconstitution instructions.
• Partner with internal departments (Scheduling, Operations, QA, and R&D project managers) to coordinate plant scale up activities (i.e. protocol pre and post meetings, data collection protocol, specification changes, etc.).
• Wear and ensure other wear all required personal protection equipment in areas where mandatory promoting a zero-accident environment.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of technical processes with the ability to apply continuous process improvement skills to on-going projects.
• Knowledge of project management with ability to assist and contribute to projects from inception, monitoring, follow-up through completion.
• Knowledge of practical laboratory skills and basic understanding of statistics.
• Strong computer literacy.
• Must have good communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to communicate with all levels of the organization and in a timely and professional manner.
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to prioritize projects, planning skills, and a high attention to detail.
• Must possess a strong customer-centric attitude, high energy level and a strong sense of urgency.

Education

Bachelors’ degree in Food Science or other closely related field of study from an accredited institution.

Experience

Minimum one (1) year related experience in food product development; experience with product development within the poultry industry preferred.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

May be required to lift up to 50 lbs occasionally. Ability to work extended or unusual shifts if needed (Weekend, holiday or extended) to meet deadline. Ability to move freely about the facility. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to risk of injury in an office environment. Duties include a typical office setting including extensive computer work, sitting or standing. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Wayne-Sanderson does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, gender (sex), sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, citizenship status, a person’s veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law or executive order. We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

About Us

A career that makes an amazing difference starts at Wayne-Sanderson Farms. Formed from two leading poultry companies with humble roots in farm supply and feed manufacturing, Wayne-Sanderson Farms is built on over a century’s worth of industry expertise and excellence in operation. Our family at Wayne-Sanderson Farms is now more than 26,000 team members and over 2,000 family farmers strong, and still growing as the nation’s third largest poultry producer. By starting your career with a leader in the industry, you can develop your skills in a wide variety of operations while enjoying unique benefits such as our professional development opportunities.