Sr Culinary Research Specialist

CJ Schwan's; Marshall (MN); Hybrid; USD 62,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Schwan’s Shared Services, LLC in Marshall, Minnesota seeks a Senior Culinary Research Specialist to lead product development for processed foods, applying culinary and research skills to optimize processing, packaging, and shelf-life. The role supports sales and marketing with expert product knowledge to top customers.

Develop new formulations, supervise start-ups, and work with R&D, QA, and packaging teams to ensure quality, safety, and cost targets while aligning with unit strategies.

Qualifications

• Associate degree requires 4 years in Bazaar Cook, Kitchen Extern, etc., with ~1.5 years in R&D roles.
• Bachelor degree requires 2 years in R&D roles with similar culinary focus and research.

Responsibilities

• Lead product development projects to create safe, palatable, and healthful foods.
• Support sales and marketing with product knowledge and presentations.
• Develop new products through culinary recipes from kitchen to lab to production.
• Evaluate ingredients for cost, flavor, shelf-life, and processing feasibility.
• Collaborate with engineers and QA/QC to resolve development issues.

Skills

Culinary arts

Food science

Qualitative research

Quantitative research

Project leadership

New product development

Education

Associate's degree in Culinary Arts

Bachelor's degree in Food Science

Job description

Senior Culinary Research Specialist. Schwan’s Shared Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Schwan’s Company seeks a Senior Culinary Research Specialist in Marshall, Minnesota.

This position, under limited supervision, is responsible for forming and leading product development projects to make processed foods safe, palatable, and healthful. Food development and culinary knowledge is applied via qualitative and quantitative research to determine optimal means for processing, packaging, preserving, storing and distributing quality food products to meet business unit strategies. This position also provides experienced support to sales and marketing in the design of new products and presentations to top customers. Lead in developing new food products through gold standard culinary recipes and bringing them to market, including competitive and market research.

Use advanced culinary and food skills to develop customized formulations that meet customer or consumer needs, including targeted sensory attributes, shelf-life and cooking or preparation instructions. Leverage advanced and creative formulation solutions to production issues as it relates to ingredients, formulas, processing procedures, and specifications to ensure continuous production of existing products and maintain product quality and safety. Develop experimental formulas leveraging culinary principles, along with processing procedures, and specifications for raw ingredients, subassemblies, and finished products for simple new products, product improvements, and cost reductions that meet project parameters of established pricing, marketing goals, food regulations, and operation feasibility.

Establish team and work with members to ensure successful start-ups of new products, product improvements, cost reductions, and ingredient, formula, or specification changes. Evaluate ingredients from a culinary perspective to identify and commercialize product improvement and cost reduction opportunities. Execute projects, as assigned, from culinary kitchen to lab to ultimately commercial production. Confer with process engineers, QA/QC engineers, R&D specialists and technicians, and packaging engineers to resolve problems during product development. Provide primary support of B2B business, sales, and marketing with product knowledge.

Other duties, as assigned. Must have proof of legal authority to work in the U.S.

Requirements - Education: Associate's degree (U.S. or foreign equivalent) in Occupational Studies - Culinary Arts or a closely related field OR a bachelor's degree (U.S. or foreign equivalent) in Food Science or a closely related field.

Experience: Candidates with a qualifying associate’s degree are required to have four years of experience as a Bazaar Cook, Kitchen Extern, Kitchen Supervisor, R&D Researcher, Food Scientist or Culinary Research Specialist, which must include at least one year and six months as an R&D Researcher, Culinary Research Specialist or Food Scientist at a food manufacturer and distributor using culinary and food skills to develop customized formulations that meet customer or consumer needs, including targeted sensory attributes, shelf-life, and cooking or preparation instructions which includes qualitative and quantitative research to determine optimal means for processing, packaging, preserving, storing, and distributing quality foods products. Candidates with a qualifying bachelor’s degree are required to have two years of experience as a Bazaar Cook, Kitchen Extern, Kitchen Supervisor, R&D Researcher, Food Scientist or Culinary Research Specialist, which must include at least one year and six months as an R&D Researcher, Culinary Research Specialist or Food Scientist at a food manufacturer and distributor using culinary and food skills to develop customized formulations that meet customer or consumer needs, including targeted sensory attributes, shelf-life, and cooking or preparation instructions which includes qualitative and quantitative research to determine optimal means for processing, packaging, preserving, storing, and distributing quality foods products.

Work from home, one day a week, in the Marshall, Minnesota area is permitted but not required.

The salary for this position has a range of $61,776 to $100,000.

This position is for full-time employment by Schwan’s Shared Services, LLC for employment in Marshall, Minnesota.

EOE.