Product Development Specialist

AMERICAN POP CORN COMPANY CORP • Sioux City, IA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

At JOLLY TIME®, we've been making popcorn people love for more than 100 years. As a fifth-generation family-owned company, we're proud of our heritage—but we're even more excited about what's next. We're looking for an early-career Product Development Specialist who is passionate about food, curious about emerging consumer trends, and excited to help shape the future of popcorn. This is an opportunity to take ownership of innovation projects from concept through commercialization while working alongside experienced leaders who will provide mentorship without micromanagement. Because of our size and collaborative culture, you'll gain exposure to every stage of the product development process and work directly with senior leaders across the organization. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable experimenting in the lab, researching the latest food trends, collaborating with Marketing, Sales, and Operations, and rolling up their sleeves to solve unexpected challenges. This position combines culinary creativity with scientific and manufacturing knowledge to create products that delight consumers while achieving business objectives for quality, cost, manufacturability, and regulatory compliance. You'll have the autonomy to lead projects, the opportunity to influence new products that reach consumers nationwide, and the flexibility to contribute across product development, commercialization, manufacturing support, quality, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Culinary Science, Chemistry, Biology, or related scientific discipline required
• 1 – 3 years of experience in food product development or research and development
• Demonstrated creativity balanced with scientific rigor
• Excellent project management and organizational skills
• Strong written and verbal communication abilities
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously while meeting deadlines
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a cross-functional environment
• Naturally curious with a passion for food, flavors, and consumer trends
• Self-starter who thrives with ownership and autonomy
• Comfortable making decisions and moving projects forward independently
• Highly adaptable and enjoys working on a wide variety of technical challenges
• Strong problem-solving skills and willingness to learn new disciplines
• Collaborative team player who builds strong cross-functional relationships
• Ability to balance creativity with practical business and manufacturing considerations
• Ability to read and comprehend instructions, regulations, correspondence and memos in English.
• Ability to write both simple and detailed correspondence.
• Ability to understand and follow instructions.
• Ability to effectively present information and communicate thoughts, ideas, desires and problems to fellow employees, in both individual and small groups situations, management and other employees of the company on a one-to-one or group basis.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working in a Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG) environment preferred

Responsibilities

• Own new product development projects from concept through commercialization
• Lead cross-functional project execution while partnering closely with Marketing, Operations, Quality, Procurement, and Sales
• Drive projects forward by making sound technical recommendations, identifying risks early, and proactively solving problems
• Design, prepare, and evaluate benchtop prototypes using flavors, seasonings, sweeteners, colors, fats, oils, functional ingredients, and processing aids
• Collaborate with ingredient and packaging suppliers to identify new technologies, ingredients, and innovation opportunities
• Prototype and optimize formulations for sensory quality, cost, shelf life, nutrition and manufacturability
• Perform product benchmarking and competitive evaluations
• Plan and lead production-scale trials and accelerated storage studies
• Stay current on food, flavor, snacking, ingredient, packaging, and consumer trends
• Translate emerging marketplace trends into innovative popcorn concepts
• Monitor competitive products and adjacent food categories for inspiration
• Bring fresh ideas to the innovation pipeline through ongoing research and curiosity
• Partner closely with Manufacturing, Quality, Marketing, Sales, Procurement, and Operations to ensure successful product launches
• Support commercialization, production startup, quality improvement, and manufacturing troubleshooting activities
• Identify opportunities for product improvements, cost optimization, process efficiency, and waste reduction
• Support Quality and Food Safety Departments with company food safety and quality management systems, including GMPs, HACCP, preventive controls, and regulatory labeling requirements
• Provide technical support across the R&D function as business priorities evolve
• And other duties as assigned by supervisor

Benefits

• FREE family health & dental insurance. That's right - JOLLY TIME doesn't charge for these benefits - and it's a major medical plan with full coverage!
• 401(k) with a 4% match
• 6 paid holidays
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Annual Bonus Program
• Referral Bonus

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level