Food Technologist

Actalent; Terre Haute (IN); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Actalent is seeking a Food Technologist / Process Technologist to lead development, standardization, and improvement of food processing operations. This role drives process development and optimization, supports scale-up of new products, and ensures thermal processing programs deliver safe, high-quality outcomes.

You will collaborate daily with R&D, Quality, Engineering, and Operations to share technical knowledge, train staff, and support audits and regulatory interactions.

Qualifications

• Experience leading process development and optimization in food manufacturing.
• Knowledge of SQF requirements and regulatory compliance.
• Ability to train, mentor, and transfer knowledge to cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop product formulations and trials.
• Develop and maintain thermal processing programs to ensure safety and quality.
• Collect and analyze data to drive process improvements and efficiency.

Skills

Process optimization

Thermal processing

Data analysis

Cross-functional teamwork

Training and mentoring

Job description

Job Title: Food Technologist / Process Technologist

Job Description

The Food Technologist / Process Technologist plays a key role in developing, standardizing, and improving food processing operations. This position leads process development and optimization, supports new product scale-up, and ensures thermal processing programs consistently deliver safe, high-quality products. The role also promotes the professional competence of cross-functional teams through daily collaboration, training, and technical support.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop and implement product formulations, conduct product trials, and ensure adherence to quality and safety standards.
• Collect and analyze operational data and trends to develop improvement plans for processes, formulas, and equipment.
• Develop, evaluate, implement, and maintain thermal processing programs to ensure the safety and quality of food products.
• Provide technical assistance and training to internal stakeholders to support effective knowledge transfer.
• Collaborate with customers and regulatory personnel during visits, inspections, and audits.
• Support deviation analyses and recommend appropriate product dispositions as needed.
• Serve as a subject matter expert in thermal processing and provide technical assistance to optimize processes and resolve issues.
• Investigate, troubleshoot, and design solutions to problems in equipment hardware, software, and processing systems.
• Understand, monitor, and test equipment and systems to ensure reliable and efficient operation.
• Support production continuous improvement initiatives and drive efforts to identify and reduce process inefficiencies across Engineering, R&D, and Operations.
• Comply with documentation standards, maintenance plans, and system specifications in accordance with SQF requirements.
• Apply knowledge of ingredient functionality and processability to improve formulations and processing outcomes.
• Follow all company safety policies and procedures while performing job duties.
• Comply with established production processes and quality systems per SQF requirements.
• Maintain proper housekeeping at the job site during tasks and upon completion, in line with SQF standards.
• Communicate daily with R&D leadership regarding special needs, issues, and progress on projects.
• Optimize processes for new projects, including scale-up from development to production.
• Identify and solve recurring processing issues