Product Development Scientist

CareersInFood.com; Mauldin (SC); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Sauer Brands is seeking a Product Development Scientist to drive innovation, renovation, and maintenance of condiment and sauce lines. You will lead cross-functional projects from concept to commercialization, craft tests, analyze data, and translate results for technical and non-technical stakeholders.

The role requires a Bachelor's in Food Science or related field, at least five years in product development, understanding ingredient functionality, and travel up to 25% to support

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biological Engineering or related field.
• Minimum of five (5) years relevant product development and commercialization experience required; familiarity leading projects for foodservice and/or condiments and sauces strongly preferred.
• Understanding of ingredient functionality and interrelationship of ingredients, processes, and packaging.
• Excellent communication, influencing, prioritization, and project management skills.
• Strong critical thinking and ability to connect to the big picture.
• Willingness to travel up to 25% to support commercialization activities and customer engagements.

Responsibilities

• Lead condiment and sauce projects from concept to commercialization with cross functional teams.
• Learn new product categories and processing technologies.
• Develop concepts/prototypes addressing customer issues within our portfolio.
• Manage multiple development projects to meet R&D timelines.
• Design and execute bench and factory trials and translate results for all audiences.
• Communicate with external partners including customers, suppliers, and manufacturing partners.
• Apply scientific principles to new situations with a high degree of autonomy.
• Create and maintain multi-component product documentation and specifications.

Skills

Product development

Project management

Food science

Design of Experiments

Communication

Cross-functional teamwork

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science or related field

Job description

As a Product Development Scientist, you will have the opportunity to drive innovation, renovation, and maintenance of product lines, enabling growth and ensuring quality objectives and business continuity for Sauer Brands. Your role will involve prioritizing and executing technical projects that contribute to the condiments and sauces business. Daily responsibilities include crafting and performing tests, analyzing data, presenting results cross-functionally, and commercializing pipeline opportunities.

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

• Work with cross functional teams to lead and support condiment and sauce projects from concept to commercialization, including Marketing, Sales, Operations, Quality, and Procurement
• Demonstrate the willingness and ability to learn new product categories and processing technologies
• Apply technical expertise in food science to ideate and develop product concepts/prototypes that solve for customer issues within the context of our portfolio of products
• Manage multiple development projects concurrently to meet R&D timelines
• Design and execute bench and factory trials, then summarize and translate results clearly for technical and non-technical teams
• Direct communication with external partners including customers, suppliers, and manufacturing partners
• Adapt and apply scientific principles to new situations/products and have a high degree of autonomy
• Create and update multi-component product documentation and specifications with attention to detail

What We Are Looking For:

• Education & Experience:
• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biological Engineering or a related scientific field
• Minimum of five (5) years relevant product development and commercialization experience required; familiarity leading projects for foodservice and/or condiments and sauces strongly preferred
• Understanding of ingredient functionality and interrelationship of ingredients, processes, and packaging
• Demonstrated proficiency in the following areas:
• Excellent communication, influencing, prioritization, and project management skills
• Strong critical thinking skills and ability to make connections to the big picture
• Ability to manage multiple assignments/tasks concurrently with the ability to question the priority of work
• Strong understanding of Design of Experiments
• Other:
• Willingness to travel up to 25% of the time to support commercialization activities and customer engagements

What Is In It For You?

Our company acknowledges talented people are attracted to companies that provide competitive pay, comprehensive benefits packages, and outstanding advancement opportunities. For this reason, we offer a Comprehensive Benefits Plan that includes the following:

• 401K
• Vacation, Sick Days and Holidays
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Employee and Dependent Life Insurance
• Company paid Short-term and Long-term disability
• Other Voluntary Insurance Options

Sauer Brands, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.