Product Development Scientist

Oterra•Sturtevant, WI

1d•Onsite

About The Position

This position works under limited supervision and is primarily responsible for the understanding and development of basic to complex colors formulations for specific applications and scaling up in commercial production facility with the purpose of advancing the growth of Oterra. The position will develop cross-functional relationships, functioning as the technical advisor to the internal stakeholders at Oterra. The successful applicant will have a strong background in food science, preferably food chemistry as they will need to apply scientific and engineering principles in the research, development and production of color formulations. The applicant should have experience with Project management, specifically within Product Development, and preferably experienced in interacting cross-functionally with Production, Quality and Sales acting as the technical expert.

Requirements

Bachelor’s in Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry, Food Science, Pharmaceutical Science or related field with 5+ years of relevant experience; or MSc with 3+ years of relevant experience; or Ph.D. in Chemistry, Food Science, Pharmaceutical Science or related field.
Strong experience with project management and stakeholder management, preferably experience with managing development projects.
Deep knowledge of food ingredients and processing. Experience with color ingredients is an advantage.
Experience with customer interaction and driving customer projects.
General understanding of analytical techniques and food quality and safety.
Ability to read, collect data, analyze, and interpret technical information, as well as write and present reports and technical papers.
Ability to distinguish colors in a wide variety of applications and media. Must have excellent color vision. (Color Vision Testing Required.)
Proficient in Microsoft Office tools and programs (e.g. Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.)

Nice To Haves

Experience with color ingredients is an advantage.

Responsibilities

Handles simple to complex color formulation projects in a timely manner starting at the lab bench level through to commercialization.
Interacts with external customers, sales, applications scientists, and other departments internally as needed in defining specific technical parameters for projects to meet customer needs.
Serves as project manager for simple to complex development projects from conception through launch by following a defined launch excellence process.
Maintains written technical documentation, and product and process specifications.
May coordinate work of technicians and others who assist in specific project assignments.
Conducts in-person consultation with customers from conception through commercialization in their facilities.
Serves as a regional technical expert for color formulations for the regional Oterra stakeholders.
Supports production with upscaling and troubleshooting including the ability to interpret food standards, safety and sanitary regulations and good manufacturing practices.
Maintains safe working environment by practicing and enforcing established safety procedures.
Learns and uses processing equipment in lab and pilot plant with minimal supervision including studying, developing and applying new methods to assess color formulations.
Provides training for QC and production personnel in new formulations and analytical methods.