Principal Scientist – Cultured Dairy & Fermentation

Dairy Farmers of America•Rochester, MN

About The Position

Responsible for leading the development of cultured and fermented dairy products for the food and dairy industry from concept/opportunity through commercialization, with major emphasis on cottage cheese, yogurt, drinkable yogurt, sour cream, cultured dairy bases, cultured beverages, and related fermentation-enabled dairy platforms. This role serves as a Principal Scientist-level technical expert and go-to resource within DFA’s culturing and fermentation capability area for critical, complex, and/or high-profile opportunities. The role requires deep expertise in dairy fermentation science, starter culture selection and performance, milk and dairy substrate design, acidification kinetics, pH control, texture development, curd formation, whey separation, post-fermentation handling, ingredient interactions, sensory performance, shelf-life design, food safety by design, and scale-up across bench, pilot, and manufacturing environments. In addition to hands-on development, this role contributes to strengthening DFA’s technical capability, mentors and influences other R&D resources, supports development of new capabilities and IP opportunities, narrows the gap from bench to pilot plant to scale-up, and drives organic growth through monetization, ROI, speed-to-market, and successful commercialization of the opportunity and innovation pipeline.

Requirements

B.S. degree in Food Science, Dairy Science, Food Microbiology, Dairy Chemistry, Biological Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Fermentation Science, or related discipline
10+ years of industry experience in R&D, product development, applications, formulation, commercialization, cultured dairy, cottage cheese, yogurt, fermentation, dairy microbiology, refrigerated dairy foods, dairy processing, or related food manufacturing environments
Proven career advancement in the food or dairy industry with demonstrated ability to independently solve complex technical problems, lead critical and/or high-profile development work, influence cross-functional decisions, and serve as a technical mentor to other R&D resources with limited supervision
Proven track record in new product development with multiple examples of commercialized cultured dairy products or solutions developed directly or under the individual’s technical leadership, including examples where the individual improved speed-to-market, scale-up success, technical capability, customer acceptance, cost, margin, or commercialization readiness
Advanced expert knowledge of cultured dairy and fermentation formulation, starter culture performance, dairy microbiology, ingredient functionality, acidification kinetics, pH control, texture, mouthfeel, flavor development, whey separation, post-acidification, shelf-life, microbial quality, and end-use performance, with the ability to coach others and share best practices
Deep practical understanding of cottage cheese and yogurt manufacturing, including how formulation, equipment, process conditions, culture systems, sanitation, and refrigerated handling affect food safety, quality, sensory performance, yield, texture, and manufacturability
Strong understanding of refrigerated, ESL, HTST, and related processing platforms for cultured dairy products, including how formulation, heat treatment, homogenization, fermentation, filling, packaging, and cold chain management affect product performance
Knowledge of food safety programs and food safety by design, with the ability to partner with QA, food safety, regulatory, process technology, and operations teams to identify critical product and process requirements for fermented dairy systems
Knowledge of food regulatory and labeling laws, including USDA and FDA requirements relevant to cultured dairy, yogurt, cottage cheese, claims, standards, ingredients, and nutrition labeling
Exceptional communication skills, including the ability to simplify complex fermentation, culture, dairy microbiology, process, food safety, cost, and commercialization issues for senior leaders, customers, and cross-functional partners
Ability to solve complex, ambiguous, and high-impact customer demands and problems related to taste, functionality, nutrition, fermentation, culture behavior, texture, stability, whey separation, pH drift, shelf-life, cost, manufacturing feasibility, commercialization readiness, and post-launch improvement
Self-driven and committed to hands-on work habits, including bench development, microbiological testing, pilot plant testing, applications testing, customer demonstrations, factory audits, and plant trial support
Ability to initiate, drive, and adapt to change while expanding DFA’s cultured dairy and fermentation capabilities, improving speed-to-market, supporting monetization of the innovation pipeline, and contributing to technical direction within assigned projects or capability areas
Ability to balance a heavy workload and manage multiple tasks, priorities, stakeholders, technical risks, and commercialization timelines
Ability to interact, influence, and communicate with senior levels of the organization and key external customers as a credible technical resource
Able to read, write, and speak English

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or Ph.D. desirable
Desired areas of expertise: Cottage cheese, yogurt, Greek-style yogurt, drinkable yogurt, sour cream, cultured dairy bases, cultured beverages, high-protein cultured dairy, clean-label cultured dairy, and refrigerated fermented dairy systems
Fermentation science, food microbiology, starter culture selection and performance, strain behavior, acidification kinetics, lactose utilization, pH control, post-acidification, flavor development, texture development, syneresis control, and shelf-life design
Dairy proteins, milk standardization, cream systems, stabilizers, hydrocolloids, sweeteners, fruit preparations, inclusions, flavors, colors, enzymes, salts, minerals, preservatives, and clean-label ingredient systems for cultured dairy products
Cultured dairy processing equipment and unit operations, including milk standardization, batching, heat treatment, homogenization, culture inoculation, incubation, fermentation vessels, vats, separators, cutting, cooking, washing, draining, smoothing, cooling, filling, packaging, refrigerated distribution, and sanitation considerations.
Bench-top development, microbiological testing, pilot plant trials, plant trials, scale-up, commercialization, shelf-life validation, troubleshooting, cost optimization, and customer-facing technical support.

Responsibilities

Develop new cultured and fermented dairy products, including cottage cheese, yogurt, Greek-style yogurt, drinkable yogurt, sour cream, cultured dairy bases, cultured beverages, and related refrigerated dairy systems using DFA’s ingredient options, cultures, processing platforms, Innovation Centers, pilot plants, and manufacturing capabilities.
Serve as a technical expert and internal go-to resource within culturing and fermentation, including starter culture performance, strain behavior, acidification kinetics, pH targets, buffering capacity, lactose utilization, flavor development, proteolysis, viscosity, gel structure, syneresis control, curd firmness, curd size, moisture management, and shelf-life stability.
Lead cottage cheese development and troubleshooting across formulation, culture selection, coagulation, cutting, cooking, washing, draining, creaming, fruit or inclusion addition, stabilizer systems, salt balance, texture, whey control, microbial quality, packaging, and refrigerated shelf-life performance.
Lead yogurt and drinkable yogurt development and troubleshooting across milk standardization, heat treatment, homogenization, culture inoculation, incubation, fermentation endpoint control, smoothing, fruit preparation integration, stabilizer systems, protein fortification, texture, viscosity, flavor, post-acidification, and shelf-life performance.
Utilize DFA’s expansive network and capabilities to enhance the value of DFA’s products and capabilities using a “what can we do with what we have?” mentality.
Work with engineering, process technology, operations, QA, food safety, regulatory, and R&D leadership to expand DFA’s cultured dairy capabilities through discovery of new technologies, cultures, enzymes, ingredients, equipment, process modifications, formulation design, manufacturing platform development, and capability knowledge-sharing for the broader team.
Partner with process technology, engineering, pilot plant, and manufacturing teams to translate bench formulas and fermentation models into scalable processes using appropriate unit operations, including milk standardization, blending, heat treatment, homogenization, inoculation, fermentation, cutting, cooking, washing, draining, cooling, smoothing, filling, packaging, and refrigerated distribution.
Design and execute bench microbiology, lab-scale fermentation, pilot plant trials, plant trials, analytical testing, sensory evaluations, shelf-life studies, and application evaluations to support product development, troubleshooting, and commercialization decisions.
Diagnose microbial, process, ingredient, and equipment-related deviations in cultured dairy manufacturing, including slow or fast fermentation, pH drift, post-acidification, weak body, graininess, bitterness, gas formation, separation, inconsistent curd, texture drift, microbial spoilage, and shelf-life failures; partner with Operations and R&D to resolve root causes.
Develop products and processing approaches for refrigerated, ESL, and other relevant cultured dairy systems, ensuring formulation and process decisions support food safety, quality, sensory, shelf-life, and manufacturability requirements.
Reformulate products as appropriate to reduce cost, improve margin, strengthen supply continuity, improve manufacturability, support clean-label objectives, improve nutrition, or improve texture and consumer acceptance, including building least-cost and flexible formulation models that account for fluctuating commodity markets, culture costs, and raw material availability.
Perform applications testing that simulates the customer’s end use to ensure the products developed exceed the customer’s expectations for taste, functionality, nutrition, preparation, handling, stability, and consumer experience.
Utilize sensory science tools, analytical testing, viscosity measurement, pH and titratable acidity tracking, microbiological testing, texture analysis, whey separation testing, shelf-life studies, and application evaluations to provide data demonstrating that customer expectations are met or exceeded.
Lead complex bench, pilot plant, and plant testing required to narrow the gap from bench to pilot plant to scale-up for DFA manufacturing and the end customer, including trial strategy, fermentation models, technical risk assessment, batching instructions, processing parameters, culture handling requirements, critical control points, validation runs, post-trial learning, and commercialization recommendations.
Drive commercialization readiness for new cultured dairy products by partnering with process technology, operations, QA/food safety, regulatory, procurement, finance, culture and ingredient suppliers, and customer teams to ensure technical risks are identified, mitigated, documented, communicated, and resolved before plant trials, launch, and post-launch improvement.
Support customer scale-up and commercialization to ensure DFA people, products, and capabilities are part of the scale-up and launch process.
Effectively operate or direct the use of pilot plant and lab equipment required to properly scale up and test cultured dairy products, including blending, heat treatment, homogenization, vats, incubation systems, fermentation vessels, pH monitoring, separators, drain tables, fillers, packaging equipment, and refrigerated handling equipment as appropriate.
Develop effective concepts for benchtop sessions, in partnership with sales and marketing, to generate customer wins in cottage cheese, yogurt, drinkable yogurt, and broader cultured dairy platforms.
Support sales in determining customer needs, problems, insights, and strategy that would ultimately require a DFA cultured dairy or fermentation-enabled solution.
Proactively initiate action plans to develop the cultured dairy, fermentation, process, and manufacturing capabilities needed to win current and future opportunities, including technical recommendations that improve win rate, profitability, and customer switching barriers within assigned projects or capability areas.
Inspire and excite customers through demonstrations of unique new cultured dairy products and applications that are relevant to their consumers.
Partner with sales to understand customers’ future needs, brands, and strategies to anticipate new areas of capability development and innovative ideas for end-use categories.
Provide technical and applications expertise to support the customer, including troubleshooting formulation, fermentation, processing, texture, stability, pH drift, post-acidification, whey separation, curd structure, flavor, microbial quality, and shelf-life issues.
Drive opportunities to commercialization internally and close with the customer.
Co-create, model, and effectively utilize the product lifecycle management (PLM) process and adhere to the Scientific Development Standards Process, including version control, development notes, documented learnings, formulas, specifications, batch sheets, processing assumptions, fermentation records, commercialization documentation, and clear stage-gate readiness expectations.
Effectively utilize CRM (Salesforce.com) to manage opportunity status, project milestones, and pipeline KPIs, continually improving R&D service to customers and supporting faster speed-to-market and increased customer connectivity.
Collaborate with and influence technical sales, customer support, and other stakeholders to “solve for yes.”
Contribute to technical content and review presentations for sales and marketing.
Provide effective, timely, and relevant reporting to leadership.
Apply strong knowledge of DFA’s capabilities, including understanding the functional and technical aspects of cultured dairy products and how DFA’s capabilities differentiate us from others in the industry.
Demonstrate a “never stop learning” mindset and influence others to adopt this mindset while serving as an internal technical expert, mentor, and capability contributor in cultured dairy, cottage cheese, yogurt, fermentation, refrigerated dairy systems, and related applications.
Research dairy science, food microbiology, fermentation science, culture technology, dairy biochemistry, ingredient functionality, processing equipment, starter culture systems, yogurt and cottage cheese manufacturing methods, and emerging capabilities to support new technology innovation, best-practice documentation, technical training, and intellectual property opportunities for DFA.