Food Scientist III

Danone•Louisville, CO

13d•Hybrid

About The Position

Everyone on our Research & Innovation (R&I) team shares a passion for innovation, new technologies, new formulations, new packaging solutions, and new ways of thinking. By joining our team, you will leverage your scientific expertise, creativity, and leadership to bring health through food, delight consumers, and drive business growth. We are currently looking to hire a Food Scientist III based in Louisville, CO. Food Scientist III is responsible for leading the development and commercialization of high-quality, consumer-centric yogurt products with a primary focus on the Kids portfolio. This role leads complex innovation, renovation, productivity, business continuity and platform development programs from concept through commercialization and post-launch activities. As the R&I lead within cross-functional teams, you will apply advanced expertise in formulation, ingredient functionality, processing, and manufacturing to deliver scalable solutions that support category strategy and business growth. Success in this role requires deep technical expertise, strategic thinking, strong influence skills, strong technical rigor and excellence in execution.

Requirements

Degree in Dairy Science or Food Science or related technical field (Master’s degree preferred) with 5-10 years of relevant experience.
Advanced understanding of dairy and / or fermented product formulation, ingredient functionality, processing technologies, and manufacturing systems.
Demonstrated success leading complex product development projects and programs from concept through commercialization with a strong attention to detail and excellence in execution.
Strong technical troubleshooting, risk assessment, and problem-solving capabilities.
Experience leading industrial scale-up, commercialization, and post-launch activities.
Proven ability to influence decisions across functions and organizational levels.
Creative, proactive and self-driven with a continuous improvement and growth mindset.
Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
Flexibility to travel (25%) & willingness to support plant trials outside of business hours

Responsibilities

Lead complex innovation, renovation, productivity, and platform development programs, ensuring successful delivery against consumer, quality and food safety, regulatory, operational, cost, and business objectives.
Serve as the R&I technical leader within cross-functional teams, influencing project direction, translating business needs into technical solutions, and driving stakeholder alignment.
Design and lead technical development strategies, bench work experiments, industrial trials, product evaluations, and consumer validation activities to generate insights, anticipate risks, and build robust commercialization plans.
Apply advanced expertise in product formulation, ingredient functionality, processing, and manufacturing to solve complex technical challenges and deliver scalable solutions.
Develop and maintain ingredients specifications, finish good specifications, and other technical documentation to ensure products are commercialization-ready and meet all quality and compliance requirements.
Collaborate with suppliers, co-manufacturers, internal technical experts, and manufacturing sites to identify novel technologies, capabilities, and solutions that advance category objectives.
Contribute to category and innovation strategy by scoping new ideas, driving technical recommendations, identifying emerging opportunities, and championing continuous improvement.
Mentor junior scientists, lead complex technical discussions, and strengthen R&I capabilities through knowledge sharing and technical leadership.