Ice Cream Research & Development Associate Scientist

Idaho Milk Products; Jerome (ID); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision coverage

401(k) with company match

Vacation and PTO

Job summary

Idaho Milk Products seeks an experienced Ice Cream R&D Associate Scientist to design, formulate, and execute trials for ice cream blends and frozen desserts. You will drive scale-up activities from lab to pre-commercial scale, ensuring product quality and regulatory compliance.

The role requires hands-on experience with conventional hard-packed, soft-serve dry blends, and novelties, with collaboration across marketing, sales, and manufacturing.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in dairy science, food science and technology, food engineering, or a related field.
• MS degree in dairy science, food science, or related field preferred.
• 6+ years with a bachelor's degree and 3+ years with an MS degree.

Responsibilities

• Formulate and scale-up ice cream blends from lab to pilot plant.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Sales, Supply Chain and Manufacturing for product development.
• Develop recipes, optimize flavor, texture, and stability while ensuring regulatory compliance.
• Improve testing methods, SOPs, and documentation for ice cream products.
• Lead multiple customer projects and mentor R&D technicians.

Skills

Dairy processing

Ice cream formulation

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Quality & safety

Analytical skills

Education

Bachelor's in dairy science / food science

MS in dairy science / food science

Tools

Formulation software

Microsoft Office

Job description

• Subject to change according to business needs.

Department

Research & Development

Location

Main Plant

City

Jerome

State/Territory

Idaho

Reports To

Ice Cream R&D Manager

Employment Status

Full time

FLSA Status

Exempt

Shifts

Day Shift

# of openings

1

Shift

• Days, Monday through Friday
• Subject to change according to business needs.

BENEFITS

• We are delighted to offer a comprehensive benefits package that encompasses Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, Life Insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts, Supplemental Insurance, Vacation, Holiday Pay, Personal Time Off (PTO), and a 401(k) plan with a company match. Eligibility and waiting periods may apply.

POSITION SUMMARY

We are seeking a skilled and innovative Ice Cream R&D Associate Scientist to formulate, design, and execute experimental trials, and optimize processes for ice cream blends and frozen dessert products. This role will also drive scale-up activities from lab to pre-commercial scale, ensuring product quality and consistency. Additionally, this position involves creating recipes, optimizing flavor, texture, and stability, while ensuring compliance with food safety and quality standards. The ideal candidate will possess a strong foundation in dairy processing and engineering, as well as hands-on experience with conventional hard-packed, soft-serve dry blends, and novelty ice creams or frozen desserts. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to drive product development from concept to commercialization. This is an exciting opportunity to be a part of a cutting-edge greenfield project, playing a key role in building a state-of-the-art ice cream facility. The position offers a dynamic, collaborative work environment that fosters creativity, innovation, and professional growth.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS, DUTIES AND PERFORMANCE RESPONSIBILITIES

Formulation, Product Development, and Scale-up

• Research and select appropriate high-quality clean-label ingredients, develop recipes, and match nutritional and ingredients guardrails using TechWizard. Optimize the dry blends and liquid base formulas as required.
• Assist in executing new product development projects from concept through launch, including formulation, sensory, nutritional, stability, shelf-life, and scale-up.
• Improve existing testing methods, processes, and SOPs for dry ice cream blends, conventional as well as novelty ice cream, and frozen desserts.
• Investigate new flavors, inclusions, variegates, dry blends, and innovative preparation, processing, and storage techniques. Stay current on regulatory requirements, technology, and industry trends.

Documentation & Compliance

• Create, organize, and store files and folders with clear structure, consistent naming conventions, access control, and security for various project reports, and are not limited to email communication, meeting minutes, product formulation, ingredient guardrails, processing details, and lab reports.
• Ensure all formulations adhere to regulatory standards and requirements.
• Communicate technical results and insights effectively to cross-functional teams.

Ingredient Management

• Research on emerging ingredients trends and market dynamics.
• Coordinate with the purchasing and procurement division to manage ingredient inventory.
• Organize ingredient specifications and certification documents, follow good storage practices, and create an ingredients database.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Coordinate with Marketing, Sales, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing to deliver customer-driven services.
• Coordinate, organize, and conduct sensory trials and hands-on training for the sales and marketing team to support business aspects of product development and application suggestions.
• Support the sales and marketing team in business promotion activities.

Project Management

• Manage multiple customer projects - scheduling test trials, maintaining resource inventory, mentoring R&D technicians, and coordinating with the pilot plant and laboratory personnel for system efficiency and effectiveness.
• Utilize project management tools to track project progress and contribute to business objectives.
• Continuously seek areas of improvement, including time saving for process and product innovation.

POSITION SPECIFICATIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Bachelor's degree or MS degree in dairy science, food science and technology, food engineering, or a relevant field.

Experience

• 6+ years with a bachelor's degree and 3+ years with an MS degree.
• Skillset in dairy processing and dairy product development, especially in ice cream and frozen desserts.

Preferred Qualifications

• Track record in dry ice cream blends formulation, clean-label ice cream, novelties, and frozen desserts development.
• Background in dairy science, dairy technology, or dairy engineering.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Technical Expertise

• Knowledge and experience in handling dry blends and ice cream ingredients.
• Experience and passion in operating ice cream blending and processing equipment. Other food engineering and technical problem-solving skills are a plus.

Regulatory Knowledge

• Experience working with FDA, GMPs, HACCP, and food labeling requirements.

Software Skills

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, with experience in formulation software or related specification systems, is a plus.

Soft Skills

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, project management, communication, and teamwork abilities to collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders.

Physical Requirements

• Reaching: Extending hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction. Picking, pinching, typing, or otherwise working, primarily with fingers rather than with the whole hand or arm as in handling.
• Walking: occasional moving about on foot to accomplish some tasks.
• Talking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word. Includes activities in which they must accurately, loudly, or quickly convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers.
• Subject to up to at least 92dbs. Must be able to lift up to 50lbs occasionally.
• Stand for long periods of time.