Sr. Scientist, R&D - Product Dev

Kraft Heinz • Glenview, IL

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Sr. Scientist, Away From Home and KHI leads product development across medium- to high-complexity projects for the Away From Home / KHI business, supporting a broad portfolio of innovation, renovation, and brand maintenance initiatives. This role translates business needs into practical development plans, drives technical execution, and ensures projects progress effectively from formulation through scale-up and commercialization. This role operates in a dynamic, cross-functional environment and requires strong technical judgment, project management, and problem-solving skills across a range of product categories and business needs. Success in the role requires the ability to manage multiple priorities, collaborate effectively across functions, and maintain strong execution and documentation discipline.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required in Food Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Life Sciences, or a related field, plus a minimum of 4 years of relevant product development experience within CPG, food and beverage, or a related industry; or master’s degree plus a minimum of 3 years of relevant experience; or PhD plus a minimum of 2 years of relevant experience
• Strong knowledge of ingredients, product formulation, processing systems, ingredient interactions, and laboratory test methods
• Proven ability to lead product development and commercialization work across multiple projects and priorities
• Strong communication , project management, and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment with changing priorities
• Strong technical judgment and ability to design effective experiments, interpret results, and adjust plans as needed
• Self-motivated and able to deliver results with a high degree of ownership in a complex environment
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment and collaborate across functions to deliver business objectives
• Demonstrated flexibility and ability to learn new products, technologies, and processes quickly

Responsibilities

• Lead product development across multiple cross-functional projects and product categories within the Away From Home / KHI business, including innovation, renovation, and brand maintenance work
• Independently lead product development projects from formulation through scale-up and start-up
• Translate business objectives into clear development plans and drive execution from concept through commercialization
• Partner with cross-functional teams to advance projects, resolve technical issues, and deliver against business timelines
• Serve as an R&D point person for manufacturing plants and support plant operations with troubleshooting, process design, and product quality-related issues to maintain business continuity
• Lead product testing, qualification, and commercialization activities across laboratory, pilot plant, and production environments
• Apply strong technical judgment to product, ingredient, process, and formulation challenges and develop recommendations and contingency plans based on findings
• Communicate technical findings, recommendations, risks, and implications clearly and in a timely manner to cross-functional stakeholders
• Manage technical timelines, proactively raise issues and risks, and adjust plans as needed
• Manage multiple priorities concurrently and identify tradeoffs, resource constraints, and priority conflicts across initiatives, including planned and unplanned brand maintenance work
• Interface with technical experts, category scientists, and cross-functional partners to understand technologies, applications, and business needs
• Monitor emerging trends and competitive activity within categories of responsibility
• Assist in scoping early-stage innovation ideas and participate in ideation sessions
• Conduct lab, pilot plant, and manufacturing trials to optimize formulations and processing systems
• Write specifications and maintain high-quality documentation that supports consistent, high-quality products
• Demonstrate flexibility and willingness to learn new categories, technologies, and processing areas in support of business needs

Benefits

• Coverage for benefits will be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans and associated governing plan documents.
• Events, resources, and learning opportunities that inspire a physical, social, emotional, and financial well-being lifestyle for our employees and their families.
• Physical - Medical, Prescription Drug, Dental, Vision, Screenings/Assessments
• Social - Paid Time Off, Company Holidays, Leave of Absence, Flexible Work Arrangements, Recognition, Training
• Emotional – Employee Assistance Program , Wellbeing Programs, Family Support Programs
• Financial – 401k, Life, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Disability

What This Job Offers

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