Product Development Specialist (Onsite)

GEORGIA NUT COMPANY•Skokie, IL

1d•$77,000 - $82,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Product Development Specialist leads the creation and refinement of new food products, ensuring they meet quality, safety, and nutritional standards.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biological Engineering, or a related scientific field.
Product development and commercialization experience with experience in manufacturing environment.
Strong understanding of ingredient functionality and the interrelationship of ingredients, manufacturing processes, and packaging formats.
Excellent communication, influencing, prioritization, project management, and teamwork skills.
Manage multiple assignments and projects concurrently with the ability to question the priority of work.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Proficiency in data analysis and reporting.

Responsibilities

Lead New Product Development from ideation through to final commercialization.
Formulate and optimize recipes to meet cost parameters, nutritional guidelines, and claim structure.
Document all ingredients, formulations, processing parameters, and testing data to establish in-process benchmarks.
Educate and lead the project team to develop fully articulate, and, aligned New Product claim structures.
Lead sensory evaluations and product trials to guarantee optimal taste, texture, and consumer appeal.
Design and execute plant trials.
Summarize learning and then refine processes to yield the highest quality and must productive processes.
Lead the operations team to preemptively vet challenges and validate production models.
Summarize and translate trial results clearly for both technical and non-technical business partners.
Partner closely with Marketing, Operations, Quality, Procurement, and Account Management to define project scope and timelines.
Proactively communicate.
Maintain direct communication lines with both external raw material suppliers and our business partners.
Create, update, and maintain detailed multi-component product specifications with a high level of attention to detail.
Ensure all products comply with industry regulations, food safety standards, and corporate quality benchmarks.
Troubleshoot and advise plant production issues as they arise.