Pet Food R&D Process Engineer — Hybrid (Relocation)

The J.M. Smucker Co.; Akron (OH); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

The J.M. Smucker Co. invites applications for an R&D Process Engineer in Pet Food Innovation at our Orrville, OH facility. You will design and run trials for processing innovations, scale up successful concepts, and help bring new pet food products to market with strong cross-functional collaboration.

You will lead DOE studies, mentor lab staff, and drive continuous improvements across extrusion, thermal processing, and validation activities, including capital projects and vendor coordination.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field is required.
• Hands-on extrusion and process optimization experience.
• Experience leading pilot plant, scale-up, and commercialization trials.
• Knowledge of ingredient functionality, food safety, and process validation.
• Experience using DOE and statistical tools to improve process performance.
• Proven success leading cross-functional projects and driving technical solutions.

Responsibilities

• Design, execute, and interpret trials for food processing innovations.
• Lead scale-up and commercialization of new products and technologies.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship across labs and trainings.
• Collaborate to identify opportunities for process improvements and meet business goals.
• Assist in die/manifold design and learn CAD tools.
• Analyze processing data to establish specs and guide decisions.
• Drive continuous improvement and manage capital projects and vendor relations.
• Lead DOE efforts and encourage cross-functional contributions.
• Manage projects independently with up to 30% travel.
• Develop SME-level capability over five years.

Skills

Food extrusion

Process optimization

Pilot plant experience

Scale-up

DOE

Cross-functional leadership

Food safety

Process validation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, or a related field

Tools

JMP

Minitab

Aspen

Job description

The J.M. Smucker Co. invites applications for an R&D Process Engineer in Pet Food Innovation at our Orrville, OH facility. You will design and run trials for processing innovations, scale up successful concepts, and help bring new pet food products to market with strong cross-functional collaboration.

You will lead DOE studies, mentor lab staff, and drive continuous improvements across extrusion, thermal processing, and validation activities, including capital projects and vendor coordination.