R&D Special Projects Lead — Bakery Innovation & Scale-Up

Socket.dev; Minneapolis (MN); On-site; USD 111,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

Annual bonus eligibility

401k contributions

Job summary

Rise Baking Company seeks a seasoned R&D/manufacturing specialist to lead bakery product development from concept through commercial production. You will collaborate with Engineering and Operations to evaluate equipment, scale processes, and troubleshoot line starts across multiple plants.

The role requires a strong technical background in bakery formulations, hands-on problem solving, and the ability to travel to plant locations as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in food science, food engineering, baking science, or a similar technical field.
• 7+ years of bakery product development or related manufacturing experience.
• Experience scaling formulations from R&D to commercial production.
• Knowledge of bakery equipment and line installations preferred.
• Capex project exposure is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Develop, test, and scale new products from concept to commercial production.
• Evaluate and commission new equipment; support line startup and trials.
• Translate bench-scale formulations to plant-ready processes.
• Collaborate across R&D, Operations, Engineering, Quality, and Procurement.
• Lead plant trials, scale-ups, and pilot runs with data-driven adjustments.
• Prepare project documentation, timelines, budgets, and status updates.
• Travel to plant locations as needed to support execution.
• Ensure food safety, quality standards, and regulatory compliance.
• Identify risks and opportunities for improvement.

Skills

Bakery formulation

Scale-up experience

Cross-functional collaboration

Project management

Troubleshooting

Education

Bachelor's degree in food science/engineering/baking

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Rise Baking Company seeks a seasoned R&D/manufacturing specialist to lead bakery product development from concept through commercial production. You will collaborate with Engineering and Operations to evaluate equipment, scale processes, and troubleshoot line starts across multiple plants.

The role requires a strong technical background in bakery formulations, hands-on problem solving, and the ability to travel to plant locations as needed.