Food Scientist II

Join the Our Talent Network • Batavia, NY

12d • $79,000 - $93,000

About The Position

Join a team that nourishes life from farm to table! Upstate Niagara Cooperative, proudly owned by 200+ local family farms, is one of America’s largest and most stable dairy cooperatives. Guided by farmer- and employee-led values, we process and market high-quality milk, yogurt, dips, sour cream, cottage cheese, and more under our trusted brands: Upstate Farms®, Bison®, Milk for Life®, and Intense Milk®. Here, you’ll support sustainable farming, strong communities, and the mission to deliver fresh, local dairy to families every day. Job purpose The Research and Development Food Scientist II is an important member of the R&D Team, specializing in formulation, production, and packaging of shelf stable, thermal processed beverages for major branded food and beverage companies. The Food Scientist II is responsible for creation of product processes and formulations and will collaborate with a cross functional team including operations, sales, marketing, purchasing, quality assurance, engineering, and R&D staff to ensure commercialized products achieve adequate thermal process treatment for shelf-stability. Position requires broad-based scientific skills with product development expertise and manufacturing scale-up. .

Requirements

• Creative thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Energized by a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to work independently without supervision but with support from management and team members.
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, time management, and communication skills.
• Effective team player with ability to collaborate efficiently and share information within teams.
• Possesses basic understanding in regulatory, nutritional, product safety and quality requirements relevant to functional responsibilities.
• Ability to troubleshoot problems and offer solutions involving products, ingredients, and processes.
• High level of integrity and passion for food and food industry.
• Prolific computer skills, particularly Microsoft Office; Experience using Genesis preferred.
• Effective writing, presentation, interpersonal, and communication skills and able to lead cross functional teams.
• Ability to travel approximately 20% of the time as needed, which can vary throughout the year.
• Bachelor's degree or higher in Food Science, Nutrition, Biological Sciences, Food Engineering, or related field.
• 2+ years of experience in beverage/food product development, experience in thermal processing, aseptic and/or dairy products preferred.
• Experience scaling up new products in a manufacturing environment, with a strong comfort level in a plant setting.
• Understanding of formula development process and basic food science principles.

Nice To Haves

• Masters' Degree Preferred (but not required) in Food Science or related field and 2-5 years of R&D experience performing new product development, creating formulas, and troubleshooting commercial scale processes in the food industry.

Responsibilities

• Perform all aspects of research and development activities to innovate, develop, and commercialize great tasting thermal processed beverages from concept to successful launch to post launch optimization.
• Knowledge and understanding of the appropriate design and methods of conducting studies relating to thermal processing of food including heat penetration, temperature distribution studies, process validation and verification studies.
• Design and manage experiments; Collect and interpret data and provide technical support.
• Responsible for formulation, ingredient, packaging, and processing changes and conducts testing for Thermal Processes design to ensure all products are commercially sterile.
• Responsible for developing preliminary nutritional's for a limited selection of products.
• Investigate and assess new scientific methods related to aseptic and/or thermal processing.
• Manage research projects for quality improvements, cost optimization, and process improvement and provide technical and project leadership.
• Act as liaison between R&D and internal/external customers to resolve problems, provide technical support, and develop actionable work plans.
• Collaborate with manufacturing colleagues and manufacturing technology to optimize product and thermal processes and applying other scientific methods related to aseptic and/or thermal processing.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level