Associate R&D Scientist - Food Preservation

Kerry•Beloit, WI

4d•$70,100 - $109,050•Onsite

About The Position

The RD&A Scientist, Food Protection & Preservation, is responsible for developing and commercializing innovative preservation and freshness solutions that help customers extend shelf life, improve food safety, reduce spoilage, and maintain product quality. This role leads projects from concept through commercialization, partnering closely with customers, manufacturing, regulatory, marketing, and business development teams.

Requirements

BS or MS degree in Food Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Bioprocess Engineering, Food Science, or a related field.
1-2+ years of experience in product development, process development, commercialization, or a related role within the food industry
Experience with food preservation, shelf-life extension, food processing, and product commercialization.
Knowledge of food chemistry, food processing, sensory evaluation, packaging systems, and food engineering principles.
Experience supporting pilot plant trials, scale-up activities, and manufacturing operations.
Strong troubleshooting, project management, and problem-solving skills.
Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
Self-starter with a strong sense of ownership, curiosity, and continuous improvement mindset.
Willingness to travel up to 20%.

Responsibilities

Develop and optimize preservation and freshness systems for food and beverage applications.
Lead customer-driven innovation projects from concept, formulation, and testing through scale-up and commercialization.
Design and execute experiments, evaluate competitive products, and develop differentiated, cost-effective solutions.
Optimize existing products, processes, and manufacturing performance.
Lead pilot plant trials, production scale-ups, and commercialization activities.
Support technology transfer activities and collaborate with manufacturing teams to ensure successful implementation.
Develop and improve manufacturing processes including fermentation, spray drying, filtration, centrifugation, homogenization, pasteurization, sterilization, and evaporation.
Troubleshoot product and process challenges at pilot and commercial scale.
Identify opportunities for process improvement, yield enhancement, and risk reduction.
Collaborate with Regulatory, Marketing, Operations, Business Development, and external customers to achieve project objectives.
Deliver technical presentations, project updates, and recommendations to internal and external stakeholders.