Protein Chemist – Food Tech (Equity, Flexible PTO)

Eat Just, Inc.; Emeryville (CA); On-site; USD 135,000 - 158,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Medical coverage

Flexible time off

Company holidays

Job summary

Just Food Company in Emeryville, CA is seeking a Food/Process Chemist to advance our protein platforms. You’ll design experiments to improve extraction, stability, and functionality of proteins for scalable food applications.

This role combines deep food chemistry with practical problem solving, requiring independent work, rigorous documentation, and clear communication with technical and non-technical teammates. The position offers competitive compensation and onsite collaboration.

Qualifications

• PhD in Food Science, Protein Chemistry, Chemistry or related field with 2+ years industry experience; or a Master’s with 5+ years.
• Experience with protein extraction, purification, characterization, and processing optimization in food contexts.
• Understanding of protein structure-function and processing effects on behavior and performance.
• Direct experience with multiple protein characterization techniques such as DSC, fluorescence, rheology, or SDS-PAGE.
• Experience designing and executing multi-variable experiments using DOE or factorial designs.

Responsibilities

• Develop and optimize novel extraction and processing approaches balancing protein functionality, yield, and scalability.
• Develop analytical methods to understand protein structure-function relationships and drivers of performance.
• Apply protein chemistry and computational approaches to troubleshoot and improve functionality and stability.
• Evaluate protein performance through processing, formulation, storage, and shelf life; translate findings into actionable recommendations.
• Independently interpret results, formulate hypotheses, and propose valuable next experiments.

Skills

Protein chemistry

DOE experiments

Data interpretation

Scientific communication

Independent work

Education

PhD in Food Science or Chemistry

MSc with 5+ years of experience

Tools

DSC

Fluorescence spectroscopy

Rheology

SDS-PAGE

Job description

Just Food Company in Emeryville, CA is seeking a Food/Process Chemist to advance our protein platforms. You’ll design experiments to improve extraction, stability, and functionality of proteins for scalable food applications.

This role combines deep food chemistry with practical problem solving, requiring independent work, rigorous documentation, and clear communication with technical and non-technical teammates. The position offers competitive compensation and onsite collaboration.