R&D Associate Scientist

PepsiCo • Town of Mount Pleasant, NY

12d

About The Position

As an R&D Associate Scientist on the AFH – Food Service team, you will have the opportunity to expand your technical expertise while contributing to the development of a diverse portfolio of beverage products. In this role, you will help translate strategic market objectives into new formulations and processes, optimize designs based on consumer insights, and support the selection of winning concepts for commercialization.
Associate Scientists actively participate in the full product development lifecycle—including new idea generation, prototype creation, product optimization, and production start‑up—while also providing hands‑on support to senior product developers as needed.
Successful candidates thrive in a fast‑paced, consumer‑driven environment and enjoy tackling challenges that require creativity, technical rigor, and strong collaboration across cross‑functional teams.

Requirements

• B.S. in Food Science or related discipline. 1-2 years' experience or related discipline is a plus.
• This position will require flexibility in working hours to set-up and complete focus groups, product expos, pilot plant scale–ups or plant trials that may extend past typical working hours.
• Willingness to travel
• Accurately maintains Laboratory notebook and follows all safety requirements (e.g. PPE)
• Ability to use bench scale and pilot plant equipment flawlessly to produce quality product to target
• Ability to analyze problems, develop accurate data and determine causes
• Moderate computer skills including Word, Excel, Power Point and internet
• Good time management and organization skills
• Good communication skills (verbal and written)
• Ability to quickly learn, demonstrate proper laboratory techniques and formulate products
• Ability to self-initiate and manage multiple project tasks independently to meet business objectives and to support the individuals of the workgroup
• Ability to communicate and highlight risks
• Intellectual curiosity
• Strong laboratory skills
• Analytical Thinking
• Teamwork
• Communication/Presentation Skills (verbal and written)
• Ability to provide thought leadership on tactical aspects of projects
• Outstanding time management, team working and communication skills
• Ability to analyze and communicate implications of experimental results

Nice To Haves

• Strong Bench Beverage development skills a plus

Responsibilities

• Development of sparkling beverages from concept through commercialization.
• Conduct and document product development lab work, including development of bench top prototypes, implementation and maintenance of stability testing, and scale-ups for commercialization
• Provide product formulation support by accurately preparing laboratory beverages and concentrates and submitting samples for analytical and sensory evaluation
• Provide technical risk assessment/perspectives related to new product development
• Translate product attributes into formal specifications for manufacture
• Create beverage documents; ensure products are safe stable and legal
• Possess basic technical foundation of ingredient functionality and potential interactions
• Ability to conduct experiments, demonstrate ability to understand trends in data and think of potential solutions to address technical challenges
• Provide technical guidance and bench development for targeted development initiatives and existing brands
• Submission of samples for analytical and sensory evaluation
• Good communication skills both verbal and written, including timely and accurate documentation of work in laboratory notebooks, actively communicate status of research
• Utilization of interpersonal skills to work effectively within teams
• Reaches out for guidance
• Demonstrates ability to understand application of consumer research and experimental design to project objectives
• Collaborate with cross functional team to reach project objectives

Benefits

• Paid time off subject to eligibility, including paid parental leave, vacation, sick, and bereavement.
• In addition to salary, PepsiCo offers a comprehensive benefits package to support our employees and their families, subject to elections and eligibility: Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, Health, and Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Insurance (Accident, Group Legal, Life), Defined Contribution Retirement Plan.

What This Job Offers

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