Product Developer/Food Scientist

Dessert Holdings; Silverton (OR); On-site; USD 80,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k)

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

Willamette Valley Pie Company is seeking a senior Product Developer / Food Scientist in Silverton, OR. You will own new product development end-to-end, from concept to first production runs, collaborating with Dessert Holdings facilities to ensure consistency across brands.

This role combines food science with pastry craft, requiring hands-on bench-to-plant work and travel up to 25% for plant trials and multi-site launches.

Qualifications

• Degree in Food Science, Food Technology, or Culinary Science.
• A pastry credential plus commercial formulation experience can substitute for the degree.
• 3+ years in product development, R&D, or culinary development in food manufacturing.

Responsibilities

• Own development end-to-end from concept to commercial launch.
• Lead scale-up trials at WVPC and Dessert Holdings facilities.
• Develop private label for In-Store Bakery.
• Manage BOM and cost with Finance to hit margins.
• Qualify ingredients and suppliers; build second sources.
• Oversee shelf life, food safety validation, and labeling accuracy.
• Define the Gold Standard with QA; prepare specs and instructions.
• Support Production and Quality; diagnose issues during runs.
• Escalate any food safety, allergen, or labeling risks immediately.

Skills

Food science knowledge

Scale-up know-how

BOM costing

FDA labeling knowledge

GMP compliance

Travel readiness

Education

Food Science degree

pastry credential in lieu of degree

Tools

PCQI

HACCP

SQF

Job description

Willamette Valley Pie Company is looking for a Product Developer / Food Scientist based in Silverton, Oregon. This is a senior individual contributor role, reporting to the R&D Manager, that owns new product development end-to-end — concept, benchtop, pilot, scale-up, first commercial run, and the spec production runs against afterward. You will formulate and commercialize both at WVPC and at Dessert Holdings sister facilities, including Kenny’s Great Pies in Smyrna, Georgia.

If you are obsessed with making the most delicious desserts and pastries on the planet, this is the job for you. This is a blend of food science and pastry craft. If you have chef hands and a scientist’s head, this is your role.

Base Salary Range: $80,000.00 - $90,000.00 per year, plus performance bonus

Benefits include 401(k), 401(k) matching, health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, and paid time off.

Schedule: On-site daily in Silverton, OR. Travel up to 25%, primarily multi-day trips to Kenny’s Great Pies in Smyrna, GA and other Dessert Holdings facilities. Expect early starts and occasional nights and weekends around plant trials and first production runs.

Key Responsibilities

• Own development end-to-end. Translate marketing and customer briefs into concepts, benchtop prototypes, pilot batches, plant trials, and commercial launches.
• Commercialize at the plant, not the bench. Lead scale-up trials at WVPC and Dessert Holdings facilities. Be physically present for first commercial runs and adjust formula, process, or both until the line makes what the bench promised.
• Formulate private label for In-Store Bakery. Partner with Sales to match, beat, and customize products on the customer’s spec, price point, and equipment.
• Own the bill of materials and the cost. Build and cost every formula with Finance before it is presented to a customer. Hit target margin or bring the exception forward with a reformulation option attached.
• Qualify ingredients and suppliers. Work with Purchasing and Quality to evaluate new ingredients and vendors, and build second sources on anything single-sourced and critical.
• Own shelf life and food safety validation. Water activity, pH, freeze-thaw, thaw-and-serve performance, and microbial shelf life, with QA and outside labs. No SKU ships without validated data behind its code date.
• Own labeling accuracy. Nutritional analysis, ingredient statements, allergen declarations, and packaging proof verification. Every label is a legal document.
• Define the Gold Standard with QA. Written specs, reference photos, tolerances, and validated prep and bake instructions across the equipment our customers actually use — so a Silverton pie and a Smyrna pie are the same pie.
• Be technical support for Production and Quality. When a run goes sideways at 6 a.m., you are the call. Diagnose the variable, fix it, and document it so it does not happen twice.
• Escalate any food safety, allergen, or labeling risk immediately. You have the authority to stop a trial, a launch, or a line. We will back you every time you make the right call.

Qualifications

• Degree in Food Science, Food Technology, or Culinary Science. A professional pastry credential paired with demonstrable commercial formulation experience will be considered in lieu of the degree.
• 3+ years in product development, R&D, or culinary development within commercial food manufacturing. Bakery, pastry, or frozen dessert experience strongly preferred.
• A documented scale-up track record. You can walk us through one product you took from bench to commercial line, including what went wrong and how you fixed it.
• Working knowledge of bakery and dessert systems: doughs, laminated and crumb crusts, fruit fillings, custards and cream systems, emulsions, stabilizer and hydrocolloid selection, and freeze-thaw behavior.
• Fluency with FDA labeling, allergen control, nutritional analysis, and clean-label ingredients.
• Costing literacy. You can build a BOM, model an ingredient cost change, and hold a credible margin conversation with Finance.
• Comfortable operating inside an active food plant — GMPs, PPE, sanitation windows, HACCP awareness. PCQI, HACCP, or SQF certification preferred.
• Valid US state-based driver’s license, ability to travel up to 25% including multi-day air travel, and willingness to work extended or off hours during scale-ups.

Physical & Work Environment Requirements

Split between office, development kitchen, and active production floors. Ability to stand and walk for extended periods; work in cold rooms, freezers, and near ovens and hot fill equipment; and lift and carry up to 30 pounds. PPE required in all production areas. Travel up to 25%, including multi-day air travel.

About Us

Willamette Valley Pie Company (WVPC) can be described as a 25-year-old startup! All the fun of an entrepreneurial startup with the stability of an established company based in the heart of the Willamette Valley of Oregon! In 1999 our founder Gerald Roth started flash-freezing berries that had been grown on his multi-generational family farm. Shortly thereafter, Willamette Valley Pie Company was formed. We quickly expanded from fruit processing to pie manufacturing and now a full line of premium, scratch made, all-natural desserts. WVPC is rapidly expanding nationwide as a premium private label and branded dessert manufacturer! In 2025 we joined the Dessert Holdings family and are now supercharged with resources and energy to build WVPC into the #1 premium pie company in North America.

About Dessert Holdings

Dessert Holdings is North America’s fastest-growing premium dessert company, bringing unparalleled dessert experiences to both retail and foodservice customers. The company, headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, is a collection of premium dessert companies and brands: Steven Charles, The Original Cakerie, Lawler’s Desserts, Atlanta Cheesecake Company, Dianne’s Fine Desserts, Kenny’s Great Pies, and Willamette Valley Pie Company. Dessert Holdings is owned by Bain Capital, employing more than 3,500 people across North American manufacturing facilities.

EEO Statement

Dessert Holdings and its related entities provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or any other characteristics protected by law.

Disclaimer

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, and responsibilities that are required of the employee. Other duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or be assigned at any time with or without notice.