Scientist Food II

Overview:

Position Summary:  The Food Scientist II develops and improves salad dressings, sauces, condiments, and related food products through independent formulation refinement, testing, specification development, and commercialization support. This role owns assigned project components and uses technical expertise and data to recommend solutions that improve product performance, quality, cost, and manufacturability. The Food Scientist II works cross-functionally to support successful scale-up and commercialization while ensuring food safety, quality, regulatory, and customer requirements are met. 

 

 

Responsibilities What You'll Do:

Product & Process Development 

• Independently develop, refine, and optimize formulations for taste, texture, stability, nutrition, cost, and manufacturability. 

• Design and execute product testing using knowledge of ingredient functionality, sensory evaluation, analytical data, and processing requirements. 

• Troubleshoot formulation and processing challenges and make data-backed technical recommendations within assigned scope. 

• Apply ingredient technologies and formulation methods to improve product performance and support innovation. 

• Develop and maintain product specifications, formulations, test results, and technical documentation. 
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Commercialization & Scale-Up 

• Support and execute commercialization, scale-up, and plant trial activities for assigned projects. 

• Partner with Operations, Engineering, Quality, and other cross-functional teams to transition products from lab to commercial production. 

• Support production start-ups and troubleshoot formulation and processing challenges. 

• Evaluate and optimize processing parameters to improve product consistency, quality, and performance. 

• Document and communicate key technical learnings, processing requirements, and recommendations. 
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Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory 

• Ensure formulations meet applicable food safety, quality, regulatory, labeling, and customer requirements. 

• Partner with Regulatory Affairs to support ingredient statements, nutrition information, allergen reviews, claims, and label compliance. 

• Collaborate with Quality and Manufacturing to develop product specifications and support consistent execution in production. 

• Apply food safety and quality principles throughout product development and commercialization. 
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Cross-Functional Collaboration 

• Collaborate with Culinary, Consumer Insights, Marketing, Sales, Procurement, Packaging, Quality, Regulatory, Operations, Engineering, and other partners to advance assigned work. 

• Communicate technical results, recommendations, risks, and trade-offs clearly to technical and non-technical audiences. 

• Work with ingredient suppliers and external partners, as appropriate, to evaluate ingredients, troubleshoot issues, and support product development. 

• Manage assigned project components, identify risks, and escalate issues when decisions fall outside established scope or authority. 

 

Qualifications What You'll Bring:

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science or related field required; Master’s degree a plus. 
• 3+ years of relevant food science experience, including product development, process optimization, quality, or related experience. 
• Experience with food formulation, testing, scale-up, and commercialization; experience with dressings, sauces, condiments, or emulsions preferred. 
• Working knowledge of ingredient functionality, food processing, food safety, quality, and regulatory requirements. 
• Strong problem-solving, data analysis, documentation, and communication skills with the ability to make data-backed technical recommendations. 
• Ability to work independently, manage assigned project components, and collaborate effectively across functions. 
• Occasional plant travel required

Supervisory Responsibility: 

• None 

Competencies:

• Plans & Aligns 
• Communicates Effectively 
• Ensures Accountability 
• Drives Results 
• Nimble Learning 
• Manages Ambiguity 

Working Conditions/Environment:

Works in a normal office environment where the employee is regularly required to speak, see, hear, sit, stand, talk, type, walk and bend while moving about the facility.  The noise level in the office is quiet. Occasional travel to plants or meetings is required. 

 

We kindly request that recruitment agencies and staffing firms refrain from submitting unsolicited resumes to our company. Any resumes sent without a prior agreement and access to proper submittal into the ATS will be considered the property of The Marzetti Company, and we reserve the right to contact those candidates without any obligation to pay a fee.

About Us:

The Marzetti Company (Nasdaq: MZTI) manufactures and sells specialty food products. Our retail brands include Marzetti® dressings and dips, New York Bakery garlic breads, and Sister Schubert’s® dinner rolls, in addition to exclusive license agreements for Olive Garden® dressings, Chick-fil-A® sauces and dressings, Buffalo Wild Wings® sauces, Arby’s® sauces, Subway® sauces, and Texas Roadhouse® steak sauces and frozen rolls. Our foodservice business supplies sauces, dressings, breads, and pasta to many of the top restaurant chains in the United States.

At Marzetti, our mission is to make every meal better through high-quality, flavorful food. Led by our purpose, to nourish growth with all that we do, our team members are dedicated to creating great tasting food and cultivating deep and lasting relationships.