Pet Nutrition R&D Formulation Scientist

Mars; Franklin (TN); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Mars is seeking a Product Development leader to drive innovation and renovation of our Wet portfolio for North America. You will estratégically collaborate across R&D, Process & Packaging, Marketing, Sales and Supply to translate consumer insights into viable product designs and solid formulations.

You will guide recipes and raw materials, align with MPENS/AAFCO nutritional standards, and ensure product safety and shelf-life validation during deployment across the factory network.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Technology, Engineering, or related field.
• Graduate degree in Food Science, Technology, Engineering, or Business Administration would be a plus.
• 4+ years of experience in Product Development and/or Formulation within a CPG company.
• Pet food experience is a plus.
• Strong knowledge of product development from bench top to full scale production.
• Prior experience must include design of experiments and functionality of raw materials. Statistical analysis knowledge is a plus.
• Demonstrated excellence in project management and capability to lead cross functional projects. Stage gate process experience is a plus.
• Strong ability to work cross functionally with people in other disciplines and/or business areas.

Responsibilities

• Support Innovation & Renovation projects by providing recipes and formulation support enabling the delivery of product performance targets and attributes.
• Lead R&D in the translation of consumer insights into product design.
• Support the development and implementation of recipes and raw materials in the factory consistent with business processes and company standards.
• Formulate for innovation/renovation projects, meeting internal (MPENS) & external (AAFCO) nutritional guidelines, and ensuring product safety criteria with site deployment.
• Formulate products meeting specified design attributes and quality targets at launch.
• Design product briefs in close collaboration with R&D and cross-functional partners (Process, Packaging, CTI, Marketing, Sales, Supply, etc.)
• Define technical learning plans in collaboration with R&D partners (Process, Packaging, CTI, SRA, Q&FS, etc.) that then feed the design of project timelines owned by Project Management.
• Drives execution of technical learning plans in close collaboration with Process, Packaging, Q&FS, Supply & Commercial.
• Use appropriate tools to facilitate concept and prototype creation & evaluation.
• Ensures R&D voice is represented in the risk assessment of the innovation/renovation stage/gate process (QuEST).
• Ensures product performance validation for innovation/renovation projects.
• Ensures shelf-life validation for innovation/renovation projects that deviate from existing technical foundation for shelf-life.
• Delivers product frameworks, recipe frameworks, and finished product specifications for innovation/renovation projects.
• Follow corporate labeling and claim policy.
• As needed, partners with Product Formulation – CB (Current Business) to define gap closure strategies for PPP (Pet Product Performance) outages when root cause goes beyond existing framework.

Skills

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Formulation

Statistical analysis

Design of experiments

Product development

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science/Technology/Engineering

Graduate degree in Food Science/Technology/Engineering/Business Administration

Job description

Mars is seeking a Product Development leader to drive innovation and renovation of our Wet portfolio for North America. You will estratégically collaborate across R&D, Process & Packaging, Marketing, Sales and Supply to translate consumer insights into viable product designs and solid formulations.

You will guide recipes and raw materials, align with MPENS/AAFCO nutritional standards, and ensure product safety and shelf-life validation during deployment across the factory network.