Pet Product Development Scientist: Lead Innovation

J.M. Smucker; Orrville (OH); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

J.M. Smucker seeks a Senior Scientist, Product Development, Pet Research & Development to translate consumer needs into scalable pet food and snack innovations.

You will lead experiments, guide design criteria, and collaborate with Operations, Marketing, and Regulatory teams across the project lifecycle. You will apply expertise in ingredient functionality, nutrition, sensory attributes, shelf life, and process feasibility to deliver competitive products while mentoring teammates and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in a relevant science or engineering discipline.
• 8+ years of R&D or similar technical experience.
• Proven product-development leadership from concept to commercialization.
• Experience designing and analyzing experiments to inform decisions.
• Ability to balance multiple priorities and work independently with guidance when needed.
• Willingness to travel up to 30% and influence cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead formulation and product development for innovation and renovation from concept to commercialization.
• Interpret industry and business challenges to propose best practices for products and processes.
• Translate briefs into technical requirements, learning plans, and product models.
• Plan and execute robust experiments from benchtop to manufacturing scale; analyze data and recommend next steps.
• Apply knowledge of ingredients, nutrition, sensory, shelf life, processing, and cost to develop solutions.
• Lead cross-functional teams and mentor colleagues on technical issues.
• Communicate status and risks to stakeholders and leadership.
• Maintain formulas, specs, and documentation throughout the product lifecycle.

Skills

Product development

Technical leadership

Experiment design

Data analysis

Cross-functional teamwork

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in Food Science, Chemistry, Biology, Nutrition, Engineering Tech, Chemical/ Food Engineering, Biomedical Engineering

Tools

Formulation software

Statistical analysis

DoE (design of experiments)

Job description

J.M. Smucker seeks a Senior Scientist, Product Development, Pet Research & Development to translate consumer needs into scalable pet food and snack innovations.

You will lead experiments, guide design criteria, and collaborate with Operations, Marketing, and Regulatory teams across the project lifecycle. You will apply expertise in ingredient functionality, nutrition, sensory attributes, shelf life, and process feasibility to deliver competitive products while mentoring teammates and