R&D Specialist I - 2nd Shift (Sparks, Nevada)
About The Position
Revises and develops product formulations to improve manufacturability while meeting company standards for quality, production efficiency, profitability, deadlines, budgets, and business goals. The role works throughout NOW’s manufacturing facilities and has direct exposure to ingredients and mixes in powder and liquid form, equipment, and packaging. The R&D Specialist supports manufacturing through technical troubleshooting, product-deviation correction, quality problem resolution, and production-process improvements. The role also evaluates formulas and raw materials against company specifications and manufacturing capabilities, enters product and process information into Oracle, conducts product trials using Pilot Plant equipment, and prepares product approval packages for management review. The employee follows standard operating, change-control, safety, and GMP requirements and participates in the company safety program.
Requirements
- Bachelor of Science degree in Food Science, or at least two years of related experience and/or training, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Ability to read and interpret safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.
- Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
- Intermediate-level Microsoft Office skills.
- Ability to work with probability, statistical inference, geometry, trigonometry, fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions.
- Ability to solve practical problems involving limited standardization and interpret written, oral, diagrammatic, or scheduled instructions.
- Ability to perform the described physical tasks, including handling testing equipment, raw materials, finished products, tools, and controls; tasting or smelling; using stairs; and lifting, moving, pushing, and pulling specified loads.
- Ability to meet the role’s vision requirements, including close vision, adjusting focus, and color vision.
Nice To Haves
- Familiarity with tableting and encapsulation.
- Food or pharmaceutical industry experience.
- Experience with gluten-free products.
Responsibilities
- Formulate and reformulate existing products using simple, cost-effective formulations that can be manufactured efficiently and meet profitability, deadline, budget, and company objectives.
- Provide technical troubleshooting to manufacturing to improve efficiencies, rectify product deviations, resolve quality problems, and address production difficulties.
- Coordinate, develop, and evaluate existing formulas to ensure compliance with NOW specifications.
- Enter bills of materials, specifications, and manufacturing instructions into Oracle.
- Use Pilot Plant equipment as needed for product trials, production troubleshooting, and related assigned activities.
- Complete and evaluate product approval packages for final review by appropriate managers.
- Test new and existing raw materials and provide information to support acceptance or rejection based on manufacturing parameters.
- Review manufacturing processes and identify opportunities to improve product quality.
- Follow standard operating and change-control procedures, and comply with safety and GMP requirements.
- Follow safety rules and procedures; participate in safety training, report concerns and hazards, submit safety suggestions, and help communicate safety information to new employees.
- Fulfill responsibilities outlined in the company safety management plan.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
