Sr. Sensory Scientist

Kerry; Beloit (WI); On-site; USD 70,000 - 109,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Paid time off

401(k) with company match

Employee Share Plan

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Kerry, the world’s leading taste and nutrition company, is seeking a Sensory Senior Scientist for North America SCPR. You will partner with cross-functional teams on discovery, development, and renovation projects, delivering actionable sensory and consumer insights.

Lead sensory research, manage panels, and collaborate with vendors. Bring advanced statistics and DOE expertise to optimize product development in a global, fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in food science with a sensory concentration; PhD a plus.
• 7+ years in Food and Beverage, flavor, or related roles.
• Proficient in spectrum descriptive methodology, rapid methods, discrimination testing; panel management.
• Experience with sensory software (Compusense, XLSTAT) and DOE tools; strong data analysis.
• Strong ability to report clearly to non-technical audiences; solid statistics background.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership to deliver sensory and consumer insights to market teams.
• Design, plan, and execute sensory and consumer research with panels and external vendors.
• Explore new methodologies or adapt sensory protocols for Kerry products and tools.
• Create research proposals, execute tests, analyze data, present findings in reports, manage documents.
• Maintain a collaborative global SCPR community.

Skills

Sensory science

Statistics for sensory data

DOE software

Panel management

MS Office (Copilot)

Education

Master's degree in food science

PhD is a plus

Tools

Compusense

XLSTAT

Design of Experiment software

DOE tools

Job description

Kerry is the world's leading taste and nutrition company for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. Every day we partner with customers to create healthier, tastier and more sustainable products that are consumed by billions of people across the world. Our vision is to be our customers' most valued partner, creating a world of sustainable nutrition. A career with Kerry offers you an opportunity to shape the future of food while providing you opportunities to explore and grow in a truly global environment.

About the role

The Sensory Senior Scientist will be an integral part of the North America Sensory and Consumer Product Research team, reporting to the Director of Sensory Science with a dotted line to the Sensory Manager. In this role, the incumbent will serve as the dedicated SCPR partner for discovery, early development, and renovation projects across multiple end use markets.

Key responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership to deliver actionable sensory and consumer technical insights to Kerry’s end use market teams.
• Partner with project lead to design, plan, and execute sensory and consumer research projects, using established and innovative methods and processes, leveraging internal discriminative panels and external descriptive trained panels, and external vendors for consumer sensory support.
• Explore new methodologies or adapt established sensory protocols to assess the sensory impacts of new and existing Kerry products and tools.
• Use globally aligned SCPR procedures to create research proposals, execute tests, analyze statistically the data, present findings in a report, save and track project documents leveraging SCPR digital tools.
• Contribute to maintain a collaborative and supportive Global SCPR community.

Qualifications and skills

• Master’s degree in food science or equivalent with a concentration in sensory science, psychophysics, behavioral psychology, data analytics or applied statistics. PhD is a plus.
• 7+ years of experience, preferably in the Food and Beverage industry working for a flavor or food ingredient company other related job experiences.
• Proficient in Spectrum Descriptive methodology, Rapid Methods, Discrimination testing and new innovative methods. Ability to conduct sensory panel management and performance monitoring.
• Proficient use of Sensory and Statistical data collection and analysis software (e.g. Compusense, XLSTAT, any Design of Experiment (DOE) software, etc.), MS Office Suite including copilot.
• Experienced in a broad range of sensory and consumer research techniques, especially adapted to early product development and ingredient discovery.
• Strong background in statistics applied to sensory and consumer data.
• Solid communication skills include ability to write concise, informative reports and verbally present complex technical information to non-technical audiences.
• Ability to listen and identify and clearly define objectives and develop a research plan to do the correct sensory and/or consumer studies at the right time, thereby increasing the success rate.
• Strong planning and organizational skills, including knowledge of project management principles. Ability to apply tools and techniques to develop/plan, manage or execute multiple projects/work plans and ensure successful completion (e.g., on time, on budget).
• Self-motivated with strong interpersonal skills including the ability to effectively focus and motivate resources.
• Ability to prioritize projects and tasks based on strategic priorities.
• Strong problem solving, organization and attention to detail skills.

The pay range for this position is $70,100 - $109,050 in Annual Salary. Kerry typically does not hire an individual at the top or near the top of the range, as we are a pay-for-performance company, and this range is set to continue to reward performance annually while in role. Compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. The specific compensation offered to a candidate within the above range may be influenced by a variety of factors including skills, qualifications, experience, and internal equity. Kerry offers a competitive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, paid time off, a 401(k) plan with employee and company contribution opportunities, Employee Share Plan, Life, disability, and accident insurance, and tuition reimbursement. This job posting is anticipated to expire on October 30th, 2026.

Kerry is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. Kerry will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States for this opening. Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a background investigation and drug screen. Additional information can be found at: Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal (dol.gov).