Senior R&D Scientist: Lead Food Product Innovation

King & Prince Seafood Corporation; Gloucester (MA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 113,000; Full time

Job summary

Gorton’s is seeking a Senior R&D Scientist to lead product development from concept to launch, developing formulations and prototypes while ensuring safety and quality. You will mentor junior staff and collaborate across Marketing, Engineering, Operations, and Supply Chain to align technical goals with business needs.

The role emphasizes leadership, strategic thinking, and the ability to manage multiple complex projects, with travel up to 30%.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemistry, Biology, or related scientific discipline.
• Minimum 5–8 years of progressive experience in food product development, research, innovation, or process development.
• Proven success leading multiple, highly complex product development projects through commercialization.
• Ability to manage competing priorities via strong project management and risk assessment skills.
• Strong consumer insights and market understanding to guide technical decisions.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary technical lead for product development projects from concept through commercialization.
• Develop formulations, prototypes, processing strategies meeting safety, quality, and efficiency requirements.
• Lead technical assessment and mitigation of project risks.
• Design and execute prototype development from bench-top to manufacturing production.
• Develop cross-functional partnerships to drive commercialization readiness and launches.
• Uphold safety, food safety, sustainability, security, and IP standards in research activities.
• Coach and mentor technologists, interns, and new hires.
• Share knowledge to strengthen organizational capability and onboarding programs.
• Provide informal leadership across project teams to support business objectives.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic thinking

Scientific reasoning

Data analysis

Communication

Flexibility

Education

Bachelor's degree in Food Science/Engineering/Cood/Chemistry/Biology

Master's degree

Ph.D.

Tools

Microsoft Office

Formulation software

Data analysis tools

Job description

Gorton’s is seeking a Senior R&D Scientist to lead product development from concept to launch, developing formulations and prototypes while ensuring safety and quality. You will mentor junior staff and collaborate across Marketing, Engineering, Operations, and Supply Chain to align technical goals with business needs.

The role emphasizes leadership, strategic thinking, and the ability to manage multiple complex projects, with travel up to 30%.