Senior Formulation Scientist

Balchem Corporation • Bridgeton, MO

3d

About The Position

The Senior Formulation Scientist is part of Balchem’s Flavors R&D team and uses scientific training and industrial experience to develop and scale up flavor products and systems for the food and beverage market. The role leads technically challenging projects through development, scale-up, and commercialization, with a focus on innovative products that meet business goals. It requires cross-functional collaboration to establish goals and timelines, drive innovation, and support commercialization, as well as support for local and global strategies and business initiatives. The scientist provides technical expertise to internal and external customers.

The position develops and commercializes products and technologies for beverages, frozen desserts, bakery fillings, confections, and other food matrices. It optimizes product functionality and sensory properties, designs experiments and product testing, analyzes data, and provides technical recommendations. The role also supports customer and commercial teams, contributes to business initiatives such as cost reduction and production efficiencies, and maintains the integrity of the R&D laboratory through accurate records and sanitary practices.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science or a related scientific field with 10 or more years of relevant work experience, or a Master’s degree with 5 or more years of experience.
• Proven track record in product formulation, specification creation, commercialization, and new technology development.
• Expertise formulating products with flavors, stabilizers, acidifiers, sweeteners, and functional ingredients for beverages, frozen desserts, confectionery, and other products.
• Basic understanding of functional and sensory evaluation methods.
• Proficiency with MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook) and product formulation tools.
• Strong problem-solving, data-analysis, and evaluation skills.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to collaborate across teams and departments, including Marketing, Sales, Quality, R&D, and Senior Leadership.
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects while delivering high-quality results.
• Commitment to continuous learning and staying current with industry trends and innovations.
• Demonstrated ability to work in and lead cross-functional teams to deliver innovative solutions and achieve commercialization milestones.
• Demonstrated history of delivering winning results.

Nice To Haves

• Hands-on experience in formulation, scale-up, and processing of beverages such as juices, dairy beverages, and energy drinks; frozen dessert products such as bases, variegates, and coatings; bakery fillings; and/or confectionery products.
• Experience with UHT/HTST processing.

Responsibilities

• Lead and champion a culture of safety across all activities.
• Drive product development, innovation, and novel applications in beverages, frozen desserts, bakery fillings, confections, and other food matrices.
• Lead the conceptualization, development, and commercialization of new products and technologies.
• Optimize and validate the functional performance and sensory properties of food products.
• Translate unmet consumer needs into actionable science and technology strategies in support of the commercial team.
• Lead and support cross-functional initiatives, including cost reduction, production efficiencies, and quality improvements.
• Provide technical leadership on complex challenges and address broader business issues through science and technology strategies.
• Develop and execute experiments that generate technical data supporting commercial strategy.
• Design and conduct product testing, including sensory and analytical testing, and review and analyze the resulting data.
• Stay current on emerging technologies and developments in frozen desserts and build relationships with customers, research institutions, and industry organizations.
• Represent the organization in customer meetings and present technologies and solutions.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Sales, Operations, Quality, Regulatory, and Senior Management to achieve business objectives.
• Provide technical support to customers, sales teams, and internal departments on beverage issues.
• Deliver written and oral reports on project status, experimental results, and technical recommendations.
• Maintain R&D laboratory integrity through accurate record-keeping, appropriate test design, and adherence to sanitary practices.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

What This Job Offers

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