Principal Food Scientist

Treehouse Island, Inc.; Omaha (NE); On-site; USD 104,000 - 156,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) match

PTO 4 weeks

Tuition reimbursement

DevelopU training platform

Job summary

TreeHouse Foods is seeking a Principal Food Scientist to join our Omaha, NE R&D Center. The Principal Scientist serves as a technical leader within the Easy Eats business growth unit, independently leading complex product development and commercialization initiatives across the Dough category.

This role may be an individual contributor or include supervisory responsibilities, depending on business needs. You will lead end-to-end development, apply experimental design and formulation science, and

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in food product development, food science, or related technical roles within the food industry.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership across cross-functional teams and mentor scientists.
• Lead end-to-end development and commercialization of new products and line extensions.
• Apply experimental design, formulation science and analytical methods to optimize product performance.

Job description

Employee Type: Full time Location: NE Omaha R&D Center Job Type: Research and Development Job Posting Title: Principal Food Scientist

TreeHouse Foods is a leading manufacturer of private label packaged foods and beverages, operating a network of over 20 production facilities and several corporate offices across the United States and Canada. At TreeHouse Foods, our commitment to excellence extends beyond our products and revolves around our people. We are investing in talent and creating a performance-based culture where employees can do their best work and develop their careers, directly impacting our mission to make high quality, affordable food for our customers, communities, and families. We hope you will consider joining the team and being part of our future. Named one of America’s Best Large Employers by Forbes Magazine, we are proud to live by a strong set of values and strive to "Engage and Delight – One Customer at a Time." Guided by our values—Own It, Commit to Excellence, Be Agile, Speak Up, and Better Together. We are a diverse team driven by integrity, accountability, and a commitment to exceptional results. We embrace change, prioritize continuous learning, and foster collaboration, transparency, and healthy debate. Together, we set each other up for success to achieve enterprise-wide goals.

What You Gain:

• Competitive compensation and benefits program with no waiting period – you’re eligible from your first day!
• 401(k) program with 5% employer match and 100% vesting as soon as you enroll.
• Comprehensive paid time off opportunities, including immediate access to four weeks of vacation, five sick days, parental leave and 11 company holidays (including two floating holidays).
• Leaders who are invested in supporting your accelerated career growth, plus paid training, tuition reimbursement and a robust educational platform – DevelopU – with more than 10,000 free courses to support you along the way.
• An inclusive working environment where you can build meaningful work relationships with a diverse group of professionals.
• Take advantage of opportunities to build on our team-oriented culture, such as joining one of our Employee Resource Groups.
• Access to our wellness and employee assistance programs.

Job Description:

About the Role: We are seeking a Principal Food Scientist to join our R&D team at our Omaha, NE office. The Principal Scientist serves as a technical leader within the Easy Eats business growth unit, independently leading complex product development and commercialization initiatives across the Dough category. This role provides strategic technical expertise, drives innovation, influences business decisions, and delivers new products, line extensions, product improvements, and manufacturing solutions that align with business objectives. The Principal Scientist is recognized as a subject matter expert and serves as a key technical resource across cross-functional teams and business functions. This position may serve as an individual contributor or have direct supervisory responsibilities, depending on business needs, including the leadership, coaching, and development of one or more technical team members.

You’ll add value to this role by performing various functions including, but not limited to:

Technical Leadership & Strategic Influence

• Provide technical leadership and influence strategic business decisions through the application of deep scientific and product development expertise.
• Serve as a recognized subject matter expert in multiple technical disciplines, both internally and externally.
• Apply advanced technical knowledge to solve complex product, process, and manufacturing challenges.
• Leverage understanding of product requirements, ingredient functionality, processing technologies, and equipment capabilities to drive effective solutions across the business.
• Translate complex technical concepts into clear business recommendations for leadership, customers, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Support customer engagements and sales initiatives by communicating product benefits, differentiators, and technical capabilities.

Product Development & Commercialization

• Lead the end-to-end development and commercialization of new products, line extensions, product improvements, and technical service initiatives.
• Independently manage technical project execution from concept development through bench‑top experimentation, pilot plant validation, scale‑up, and full commercial implementation.
• Ensure all development activities align with project objectives, consumer expectations, operational capabilities, and business requirements.
• Drive execution of highly complex technical projects while partnering with Operations, Quality, Procurement, Marketing, and other functional teams.
• Apply experimental design, formulation science, and analytical methodologies to optimize product performance and manufacturing success.

Innovation & Continuous Improvement

• Monitor industry trends, emerging technologies, competitive activities, and ingredient innovations to identify growth opportunities and maintain technical leadership.
• Initiate and lead research programs that drive formulation optimization, processing improvements, cost savings, and operational efficiencies.
• Identify root causes of recurring technical issues and lead cross‑functional efforts to develop sustainable corrective and preventive solutions.
• Evaluate and implement innovative technologies and processes that improve product quality, performance, and business results.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement through knowledge sharing, best practices, and technical advancement.

Leadership, Mentoring & Capability Building

• Provide technical coaching, mentoring, and guidance to scientists and product developers across the R&D organization.
• Build organizational technical capability by sharing expertise in formulation, experimental design, processing technologies, and problem‑solving methodologies.
• Foster technical excellence by providing both depth and breadth of knowledge to project teams.
• Develop cross‑functional relationships that enhance collaboration and accelerate project execution.
• Continuously expand personal expertise and cross‑divisional technological knowledge to support broader organizational needs.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Program Management

• Lead and influence cross‑functional teams to deliver business‑critical projects on time and within scope.
• Build strong partnerships with Operations, Quality, Procurement, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Commercial teams to ensure successful project outcomes.
• Balance technical, operational, financial and customer requirements while guiding project decisions.
• Drive accountability and alignment among stakeholders throughout the innovation and commercialization process.
• Effectively communicate project status, risks, opportunities, and recommendations to leadership and business partners.

Important Details

This is a full‑time, onsite role based out of our Omaha, NE location. The anticipated compensation for this position ranges from $104,000.00 - 156,000.00 USD annually. This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, shift, travel requirements, sales or revenue‑based metrics and business or organizational needs. For certain roles, the successful candidate may be eligible for annual discretionary merit compensation award, bonus and equity pay.

Education & Experience

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in food product development, food science, or related technical roles within the food industry.
• Preferred experience in grains processing, dough systems, baking technology, and related manufacturing processes.
• Demonstrated success leading complex product development and commercialization projects.

Technical Expertise

• Advanced knowledge of food formulation, ingredient functionality, processing technologies, and product development principles.
• Strong technical leadership across multiple product and technology platforms.
• Expertise in experimental design, root cause analysis, and scientific problem‑solving methodologies.
• Broad understanding of ingredient interactions and processing impacts on product performance.

Leadership Competencies

• Proven ability to influence without authority and lead through technical expertise.
• Strong mentoring and coaching capabilities with a passion for developing others.
• Excellent project management and cross‑functional leadership skills.
• Effective communicator with strong written, verbal, and presentation abilities.
• Self‑directed, resourceful, and capable of independently driving results in a fast‑paced environment.

At TreeHouse Foods, we embrace diversity and inclusion for innovation and growth. We are committed to building inclusive teams and an equitable workplace for our employees to bring their true selves to work to help us "Engage and Delight – One Customer at a Time".

TreeHouse Foods is an Equal Opportunity Employer that prohibits discrimination or harassment of any type. All qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Applicants who require an accommodation to participate in the job application or hiring process should contact disability‑[e-mail].

TreeHouse Foods is a private label food and beverage leader focused on customer brands and custom products. When customers partner with TreeHouse they can expect access to an industry-leading portfolio, strategic vision, on‑trend innovation and insights, world‑class supply chain, operational excellence and flexibility, collaborative approaches, and dedicated customer service. Our strategy is to be the leading supplier of private label food and beverage products by providing the best balance of quality and cost to our customers. We engage with retail grocery, food away from home, and industrial and export customers, including most of the leading grocery retailers and foodservice operators in the United States and Canada. Our portfolio includes a variety of shelf‑stable, refrigerated, and snack products. Customers can expect comprehensive flavor profiles including natural, organic, and preservative‑free ingredients in many categories and packaging formats. TreeHouse Foods is best known for food and beverages produced by our two largest businesses Bay Valley Foods, LLC (including E.D. Smith and Sturm Foods) and TreeHouse Private Brands. With more than 10,000 employees in over 26 plants across the United States and Canada, TreeHouse Foods is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

At TreeHouse Foods, we embrace diversity and inclusion for innovation and growth. We are committed to building inclusive teams and an equitable workplace for our employees to bring their true selves to work to help us "Engage and Delight – One Customer at a Time". TreeHouse Foods is an Equal Opportunity Employer that prohibits discrimination or harassment of any type. All qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, national