R&D Scientist: From Concept to Scale (Remote Fridays)

LifePath; Oak Brook (IL); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

LifePath is seeking a seasoned R&D scientist to drive new product development from concept to commercialization in Oak Brook, IL. You will develop prototypes, present concepts to Marketing and leadership, and execute experiments to guide next steps.

You will lead plant trials, scale-ups, and partnerships with manufacturing sites, establishing parameters and optimizing production. Travel up to 25% supported by a collaborative cross-functional team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Culinary Science or related discipline, or equivalent relevant food-industry experience.
• 4+ years of new product development experience, including taking products from idea through commercialization.
• Experience formulating better-for-you products, including USDA Organic products.

Responsibilities

• Lead new product development projects from concept and formulation through commercialization.
• Develop prototypes across multiple product categories and present concepts to Marketing, leadership and other stakeholders.
• Design and execute product development experiments, interpret results and recommend next steps.
• Stay current on emerging food technologies, ingredients, processing methods and industry trends.
• Improve existing products through ingredient, nutritional, cost and product-quality optimization.
• Translate bench-top concepts into commercially viable products and manufacturing processes.
• Lead plant trials, scale-ups and new product start-ups with company manufacturing sites and co-manufacturing partners.
• Establish processing parameters and work with Plant Operations to optimize production runs.
• Lead pre- and post-production reviews for new product launches.
• Travel to Nature’s Path manufacturing facilities and external partners for trials, scale-up and product support, up to 25%.

Skills

New product development

USDA Organic products

Food manufacturing & scale-up

Stage-gate process

Nutritional database

CPG/start-up experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science or related

Tools

PLM systems

Microsoft Office

Asana

Job description

LifePath is seeking a seasoned R&D scientist to drive new product development from concept to commercialization in Oak Brook, IL. You will develop prototypes, present concepts to Marketing and leadership, and execute experiments to guide next steps.

You will lead plant trials, scale-ups, and partnerships with manufacturing sites, establishing parameters and optimizing production. Travel up to 25% supported by a collaborative cross-functional team.