Principal Scientist x 2

CPS Inc.; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 110,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

CPS Inc. in the United States seeks a Principal Scientist for R&D to lead product development within the Sauces & Condiments platform.

You will drive cross-functional execution across emulsified product lines and support the Retail business, delivering robust, scalable solutions across platforms. The role demands a proven ability to manage complex programs, mentor teammates, and translate research findings into actionable specifications.

Qualifications

• BS in Food Science, Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry, Microbiology, or Agricultural Science with 7+ years end-to-end product commercialization in food/CPG, or MS/PhD with 3+ years
• Strong understanding of ingredients, interactions, and food product laboratory test methods
• Excellent communication, influencing, project management and problem-solving skills
• Willingness to travel up to 30% to US and Canada plants, co-manufacturers, and suppliers

Responsibilities

• Lead product development across multiple projects with cross-functional teams
• Translate research findings to cross-functional teams
• Manage and execute product testing and qualification in lab and production environments
• Collaborate to define raw material and finished product specs delivering quality and safety
• Develop technical timelines, assess risks, and implement contingencies
• Mentor and coach colleagues within and outside the team
• Prioritize multiple projects and resolve priority conflicts

Skills

Design of Experiments

Project Management

Communication

Leadership / Mentoring

Multi-tasking

Travel readiness

Education

BS in Food Science, Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Agricultural Science

Master's degree or PhD with 3 years experience

Job description

Principal Scientist x 2 This is a Research and Development (R&D) role leading Product Development initiatives within the Sauces & Condiments technical platform. The role offers a variety of businesses to support across our emulsified product lines, as well as the broader Sauces & Condiments categories for our Retail business. The Principal Scientist is expected to provide leadership for and execution of projects across platforms. The candidate should have a proven record of executing work plans and driving for results in a variety of challenging and complex settings, across multiple categories. Success in the role requires cross-functional collaboration, strategic influence, problem solving, and prioritization to lead multiple projects simultaneously. Successful candidates will have a technical background in food science / engineering, demonstrate strength in the commercialization process, proven ability to design product testing at plant scale, a growth mindset, and powerful teamwork skills.

Key Components of the Role

• Work with cross-functional teams acting as the lead product developer to drive execution across multiple projects
• Demonstrates the willingness/ability to learn new product categories
• Translate research findings and communicate to cross-functional teams
• Manage and execute product testing and qualification while working closely with cross-functional team members in laboratory and production environments
• Collaborate with teams to understand and ensure product quality and food safety requirements are defined and delivered through the completion of raw material, finished product specifications that deliver consistent, high-quality products
• Run technical timelines, provide clear and timely communication, complete risk assessments, raise issues, and develop contingency plans demonstrating strong project management skills
• Manage multiple projects concurrently and possess the ability to call out priority conflicts between a variety of business initiatives
• Mentor, coach and collaborate with other colleagues within and outside of your immediate team

Salary

$110,000 - $130,000 + Bonus

Benefits

Available

Qualifications

• BS in Food Science, Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Agricultural Science with minimum of 7 years of experience successfully commercializing products end-to-end in the food or CPG industry or minimum 5 years’ experience with Master’s Degree or PhD with 3 years that includes the following:
• Strong understanding of key subject matter in areas such as ingredients, ingredient interactions, and food product laboratory test methods
• Executional excellence, personal leadership and customer focus a must
• Self-motivated problem solver and the drive to deliver objectives in a complex environment
• The ability to plan, put together well thought out design of experiments, anticipate next steps and incorporate course corrections when hurdles appear
• Excellent communication, influencing, project management and problem-solving skills
• Ability to lead, coach and motivate others
• Highly motivated and ability to multi-task complex projects
• Manage multiple projects concurrently with the ability to question the priority of work
• Strong understanding of Design of Experiments
• Willingness to travel 30%. Travel could include (but not limited to): United States and Canada to internal plants, co-manufacturers, and suppliers