Associate Food Scientist, Salty Snacks

CONAGRA • Chicago, IL

47d • $59,000 - $78,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Reporting to the R&D Manager, this role will give you the opportunity to bring bold ideas to life as part of Conagra’s Center for Food Design (CFD) in downtown Chicago. You will be immersed in a vibrant, open-office culture surrounded by cutting-edge culinary kitchens, pilot plant capabilities, and specialized labs for baking, salty, and meat snacks. As an Associate Food Scientist for Salty Snacks, you will help shape the future of our Salty Snacks portfolio through innovative product development, flavor exploration, and cross-functional collaboration. This is a fantastic opportunity to grow your career in food science while making a real impact on the snacks people love.

Requirements

• BS in Food Science or a related field required.
• 1+ years of relevant work or internship experience preferred.
• Knowledge of ingredient functionality; seasoning application experience is a plus.
• Experience in food product design, formulation, process design, product scale-up, plant testing, and commercialization.
• A proactive, self-starting mindset with strong problem-solving skills.
• Skilled at managing multiple projects and tasks with efficiency and focus.
• Comfortable working in manufacturing environments with varying conditions (noise, heat, cold, wet surfaces).
• Open to food tasting and exposure to all food allergens.

Responsibilities

• Create new salty snack products from concept through commercialization, with a focus on seasoning application and flavor innovation.
• Design and execute plant trials and product start-ups, ensuring smooth transitions from lab to production.
• Present your work to senior leadership through engaging product cuttings and tastings.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including packaging, processing, labeling, brand, finance, procurement, and legal to bring new products to market.
• Conduct experiments, analyze results, and maintain accurate documentation using our online specification and recipe/formula tools.
• Work hands-on with bench and pilot plant equipment to test and refine product concepts.
• Support business continuity and cost savings initiatives through thoughtful product design.
• Maintain a clean, organized, and safe workspace, including equipment and surface sanitation.
• Travel up to 30% to manufacturing facilities, where you’ll gain exposure to production environments and processes.

Benefits

• Comprehensive healthcare plans, wellness incentive program, mental wellbeing support and fitness reimbursement
• Great pay, bonus incentive opportunity, matching 401(k) and stock purchase plan
• Career development opportunities, employee resource groups, on-demand learning and tuition reimbursement
• Paid-time off, parental leave, flexible work-schedules (subject to your location and role) and volunteer opportunities

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees