R&D Product Development Associate Principal Scientist - Away From Home

PepsiCo•Plano, TX

17h•$89,000 - $149,000•Onsite

About The Position

At PepsiCo, you’ll discover a place where our mission is to create smiles around the world. With a portfolio of more than 500 beloved brands including, Gatorade, Lay’s and Quaker, our work touches millions of people every day. At the heart of the company is a team of thinkers, creators, and problem-solvers who collaborate to innovate and turn ideas into action. Driven by innovation and a focus on creating joyful moments through food and drinks, our decisions are guided by consumer centricity, creating opportunities for our associates to do meaningful work and make a lasting impact in the communities we serve. Whatever your role, you’ll be part of a global community that values your ideas and empowers you to make an impact, on your career and on the world around you. The R&D Associate Principal Scientist, Away From Home is responsible for the execution of product development projects in the center of plate, frozen, refrigerated and ambient foods space. This role requires analytical skills, project management capabilities, and the ability to establish cross-functional relationships, internally and externally. The Associate Principal Scientist collaborates with external supplier partners to facilitate product design, process design and scale up of multiple innovation projects in an evolving, high growth area of the PepsiCo Foods business. Critical thinking, problem solving, triaging with multiple stakeholders and leadership are all necessary skills for success. This role is expected to act as the key R&D project stakeholder with business partners, R&D functions and external partners to forge new paths of development and business for the immediate and multi- year away from home portfolio.

Requirements

B.S./M.S./Ph.D degree in Food Science or related field required
5+ (B.S) / 3-4+ (M.S) / 2-3+ (Ph.D) years of relevant work experience in the field of foodservice food innovation OR refrigerated OR frozen food product development required
Strong knowledge in developing products through supplier partner capabilities, and a demonstration of product innovation. Experience in specification authorization and commercialization and scale up.
Strong working knowledge of experimental design & product development protocols (from concept to execution), including formulation, stability testing, product/package interaction, sensory and consumer testing methodology.
Possess strong work ethic and ability to be a self-starter. Strong understanding of organizational protocol.
Demonstrated ability to function effectively in a dynamic and fast-paced environment as well as manage multiple projects simultaneously.
Adapts to change well with the personal leadership to influence and positively motivate self and peers.
Strong organization, documentation, and formula management skills.
This position is limited to persons with indefinite right to work in the United States
Problem solver, with the ability to adapt outside of known processes.
Networking, collaboration, and influencing skills to drive decisions while bringing others along, at above and below level. People leadership skills to work effectively with R&D and cross functional teams.
Proven ability to manage multiple assignments and tasks.
Strong communication skills, both oral and written. High-level expertise with PowerPoint and presentation writing.
Demonstrate understanding of how to incorporate business needs into technical decisions.
Willingness to travel (30%) and the ability and interest to work in a laboratory, pilot plant and manufacturing scale environments in a Food Company.
As a developer of new food products, organoleptic evaluations on variety of substrates, proteins will be conducted frequently.

Responsibilities

Lead the development and launch of refrigerated, frozen and shelf stable meals, including meat proteins, handhelds, side dishes, dips and other high moisture foods Innovation through development of flavors and formulations and in consideration of process technologies and packaging interaction.
Work closely with third party supplier partners to design optimal product in accordance with PepsiCo innovation, market and sales demand, as well as customer and consumer input. It is critical to provide leadership and project management for development of products utilizing the capabilities of other companies.
Works closely with culinary partners, with both supplier culinary partners and PepsiCo culinary, and bring in strong drive to keep culinary at the forefront of new product designs. Drive innovative food product solutions that meets consumer centric needs and augment new product designs by using culinary skills to develop superior food products.
Explore new ingredients, product substrates, and processes leveraging internal and external resources.
Work with Supply Chain to evaluate, qualify, and commercialize platform capacity. Work closely with R&D process engineering to develop process design for desired product output.
Design and execute experiments. Analyze and interpret data to make sound technical recommendations on product and process issues. Communicate impact to the business.
Coordinate production at bench top, pilot plant, and manufacturing levels for shelf life, stability, sales samples, scale-up, and other needs.
Heavy interaction and direct engagement with internal and contract Manufacturing & Ingredient Suppliers.
Develop and maintain effective working relationships across R&D and non-R&D functions including, Supply Chain, FSQA, Regulatory, Innovation, Sales and Legal. Represent R&D AFH PD across all workstreams.
Provide trial and commercialization support to products at co-manufacturing facilities.
Input, review, and finalize ingredient, product formula and design specifications.
Actively participate in Marketing/Consumer Research including focus groups, consumer research, etc.
Perform basic economic evaluations on ingredients, suppliers, and formulations.
Influence others through strong communication & interpersonal skills.

Benefits

Bonus based on performance and eligibility target payout is 10% of annual salary paid out annually.
Paid time off subject to eligibility, including paid parental leave, vacation, sick, and bereavement.
Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, Health, and Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Insurance (Accident, Group Legal, Life), Defined Contribution Retirement Plan.

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