Ingredient Portfolio Specialist

SSS Of Parma•Independence, OH

About The Position

Assist Purchasing and R&D on sourcing capabilities and generating formulas for standard products. This position requires a well-organized individual that is self-motivated and takes charge, is dependable and responsible, enjoys new opportunities and challenges, and enjoys working with and developing new products. Prior work experience in procurement, and/or product development is required.

Requirements

Prior work experience in procurement, and/or product development.
Able to read, analyze, and interpret ingredient specifications and recipes, general business periodicals, and or governmental regulations.
Able to effectively present information and respond to questions from vendors, customers, staff and owners.
Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference, and fundamentals of weights and measures.
Ability to apply concepts such as ratios, and proportions for ingredient and nutritional information.
Manual dexterity to operate office equipment.
May require occasional sitting, standing and the ability to walk to various locations to attend meetings.
Must have normal or corrected vision and be able to clearly communicate verbally by phone or in person.

Responsibilities

Execute process for material substitutions from request through implementation.
Perform lab testing and experimentation to assess the viability of potential material substitutions ensuring the compliance with specifications (sensory and quality parameters).
Identify potential raw material exchange targets by assessing product specifications and recipes.
Create and schedule pilot plant batches for analytical and sensory evaluation.
Establish new recipes (Developer, Sales, Operations, Quality, Purchasing).
Organize sensory tests for material substitutions (sample preparation, panel invitation, results analysis, and conclusion).
Ensure full transparency and accuracy of data in the lifecycle of an ingredient project supported by the relevant tools.
Participate in raw material supplier discussions and events.
Advise on potential use of existing materials in new products.
Regularly generate formulations for standard products that fully meet customer expectations (functional, nutritional, sensorial, etc.) and can repeatably meet product specification when commercialized.
Manage multiple customer projects simultaneously including new product development, line extensions, matching, and reformulation.
Plan and execute standard tasks (pilot plant batches, ship samples, request quality documents, etc.) to meet customer project expectations.
Identify and communicate key project milestones.
Professional communication to suppliers and customers internal and external.
Analyze and interpret data from experiments to draw sound conclusions.
Use data and knowledge of food science to purpose solutions to formulation issues.
Work close with Quality and Procurement to ensure ingredients used are compliant, cost effective, and are available for use.