Technical Ingredient Specialist

PURIS Proteins•Minneapolis, MN

8d•$70,000 - $95,000•Hybrid

About The Position

At PURIS, we're dedicated to cultivating a better food system and making a positive impact. How do we do it? By transforming high-quality, USA-made ingredients into essential components for a wide range of everyday products. From cereals and snacks to protein beverages and beyond, our ingredients are powering a healthier future. This is more than just a job; it's an opportunity to be part of a growing food industry. You'll work with state-of-the-art engineering and work together with your peers to build a better food future. The Minneapolis office is where PURIS comes together as one. As our corporate headquarters, this team partners across commercial, finance, supply chain, people, and operations. We are working closely not only to support and scale our manufacturing network, but also to collaborate with our trusted grower partners across peas and soy. Located in the heart of the Twin Cities, the office blends forward-thinking work with strong relationships across the food system, from farm to finished ingredient. For those who value partnership, cross-functional problem solving, and collective impact, Minneapolis is where individual contributions help move the entire PURIS ecosystem forward. The purpose of this position is to unlock and expand the value of PURIS pea protein side streams by developing differentiated, high-value starch-, fiber-, and pea solubles–based ingredients. As a core R&D innovator, the Technical Ingredient Specialist will design, develop, and scale novel technologies, processes, and applications that transform starch, fiber, and pea solubles streams from pea protein manufacturing into commercial ingredients with clear functional, nutritional, and economic advantages. The role also partners with customers and commercial teams to translate unmet needs into technical targets, assess ingredient fit and access, and inform development priorities.

Requirements

PhD in Food Science, Chemical Engineering, Material Science, Polymer Science, or related discipline required.
Strong background in starch chemistry, dietary fiber, polysaccharides, or biopolymer processing.
Demonstrated experience in process development, scale-up, and technology transfer.
Proven track record of applied research, innovation, and preferably IP generation.
Hands-on experience with DOE, statistical analysis, and process optimization tools (e.g., Minitab).
Excellent written and verbal communication skills with ability to translate science into business value.
Leverages AI tools to streamline work while upholding data privacy and quality standards.

Responsibilities

Conceive, design, and develop new technologies and unit operations to upgrade pea starch, pea fiber, and pea solubles side streams into high-value food and ingredient solutions.
Lead laboratory, pilot-scale, and early commercial trials for new processes, including separation, modification, and functional enhancement technologies.
Develop deep scientific understanding of pea starches, fibers, and solubles, including structure–function relationships, physicochemical properties, and performance in food systems.
Design and execute DOE-driven experiments to characterize functionality, stability, nutrition, and processing behavior.
Partner closely with Manufacturing, Engineering, and Operations to ensure new technologies are scalable, economically viable, and compatible with PURIS assets.
Support pilot and plant trials, troubleshoot process challenges, and define process control parameters.
Generate defensible intellectual property through invention disclosures, patents, and trade secrets.
Contribute to PURIS’ longer-term ingredient technology roadmap by identifying platform opportunities within starch, fiber, and pea solubles streams.
Collaborate with Product Management, Applications R&D, Regulatory, and Commercial teams to define target applications, validate market relevance, and translate technical innovation into ingredient platforms.
Engage customers (in partnership with Commercial) to clarify unmet needs, translate requirements into technical targets, and evaluate ingredient fit, access, and performance.
Capture and communicate gaps and feedback to guide R&D priorities, application validation, and documentation needed to enable adoption.
Work directly with customers and commercial partners to understand unmet needs, translate customer requirements into technical targets, and identify where PURIS ingredients can deliver value.
Assess current ingredient capabilities and access pathways, define technical and commercial gaps, and partner cross-functionally to close gaps through new ingredient development, application work, documentation, and scalable processes.
Serve as an internal subject matter expert in starch, fiber, and pea solubles science.
Develop internal technical documentation, white papers, and SOPs.
Mentor junior scientists and contribute to building technical capability across the R&D organization.
Stay at the forefront of academic and industrial research in starch chemistry, fiber functionality, pea solubles composition and functionality, plant-based ingredient processing, and sustainable valorization of side streams.
Leverage external collaborations, literature, and conferences to inform innovation.