R&D Scientist - US

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

• 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.

Take products from bench to production

• 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%.

Build the technical foundation

• Develop formulations, product specifications, ingredient specifications, processing parameters and label declarations.
• Manage nutritional information and nutritional database entries for new and revised products.
• Coordinate third-party laboratory testing and partner with Quality on shelf-life testing and deviations.
• Maintain accurate product-development documentation and company systems.
• Apply working knowledge of food regulations, includingUSDA Organic requirements and California Proposition 65, while building knowledge of requirements in other global markets.

Partner across the business

• Serve as an R&D subject matter expert throughout the product-development process.
• Partner with Finance and Supply Chain to develop product P&Ls and assess commercial feasibility.
• Work with Supply Chain to evaluate alternative ingredients and suppliers while protecting quality and product performance.
• Create product samples for Sales, Marketing and leadership as required.
• Balance multiple development projects and commercialization timelines.

What you bring

• Bachelor’s degree inFood Science, Culinary Science or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant food-industry experience.
• 4+ years of new product development experience, including taking products from idea through commercialization.
• Experience formulatingbetter-for-you products, including USDA Organic products.
• Hands-on experience with food manufacturing and scale-up.
• Experience withcereal extrusion, baking and/or snack manufacturingis preferred.
• Experience working within astage-gate product-development processis an asset.
• Experience with a nutritional database is required.
• Familiarity with PLM systems, supply chain software, Microsoft Office and/or Asana is helpful.
• Experience within a large CPG organization, high-growth food company or start-up environment is an asset.

Why this role

You’ll have the opportunity to influence products from the earliest idea through the moment they reach full-scale production, while helping shape how we innovate in abrand-new R&D environment built for what comes next.

Oak Brook, Illinois | Monday–Thursday onsite & Friday remote
$90,000–$100,000 base salary + 10% annual bonus

Equal Opportunity Employer

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