Food Scientist II

Working independently, the Food Scientist II is responsible for the development of new products across Coffee and Tea from concept to commercialization. Requires work with multi-disciplinary groups to innovate, optimize and customize food ingredients. Consults directly with sales and customers to meet expectations. This position reports to the Senior Product Development Technical Lead.

Primary Job Functions:

Product Development

Project Requests

Commercialization

Technical Support

Raw material assessment

Additional tasks or projects outside "core" responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

Product Development

• Ideate and Develop new product prototypes and optimization to existing products.
• Improve existing products by optimizing product attributes, efficiencies, etc.
• Develop and maintain accurate records related to the products such as formulas, label development, production process, HACCP, product specification, nutritional data, shelf life, etc.
• Participate on product development teams and cross-functional teams to be the Product Development advocate for internal initiatives, cost-optimization, and ops/qa support.
• Execute sensory tests as-needed, using internal software and statistical analysis to make recommendations for customers or drive development initiatives.

Project Requests

• Independently completes project requests as assigned on-time
• Provide application samples and usage recommendations, as needed
• Tracks project trends and optimizes processes for product development

Commercialization

• Oversee scale-up from bench to production trials, documenting accordingly.
• Develop processing parameters with current equipment for better efficiency and yields
• Troubleshoot trials and provide recommendations for corrective action

Technical Support

• Provide technical support to customers seeking product information and advice as it pertains to product application/usage levels
• Travel independently with Salesperson on customer demonstrations; work with R&D on site.
• Demonstrate knowledge of field protocols and procedures that support products and solutions to Westrock customers
• Provide comprehensive reports on complex data analysis and summaries

Trade Shows

• Serve as Product Development lead on trade show planning teams
• Provide technical assistance to sales in the trade show booth

Raw Material Assessment

• Evaluate, approve, and analyze risk of new or existing ingredients
• Evaluate new raw materials and conduct sensory analysis with a cross-functional group.
• Evaluate technical specification documentation for compliance with S&D requirements

Additional tasks or projects outside "core" responsibility

• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned.