AmeriQual Foods - Food Scientist

Job Purpose

This position performs various tasks related to day-to-day production support, renovation, and continuous improvement of existing items to ensure product is made to customer specification. Responsibilities include development and management of project timelines and milestones. Experience in nutrition, dietetics, and benchtop formulation is highly valued to support product optimization and compliance with customer nutritional requirements.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Process Development – work with product development to scale up production trials and provide support for commercialization of initial production start-up. Report results to appropriate departments during the commercialization process.
• Lead and drive redesign & renovation of existing products and manufacturing processes to increase quality, reduce costs, and/or increase production efficiencies.
• Perform benchtop formulation work, including prototype development, ingredient functionality testing, and nutritional evaluation of product changes.
• Utilize nutrition/dietetics resources to ensure products meet customer nutritional targets, regulatory requirements, and labeling standards.
• Work with engineering and operations to identify new equipment and manufacturing steps to increase quality, reduce costs, and increase production efficiencies.
• Maintain formulation files by auditing production, reviewing batch procedures, and updating as needed.
• Support production with troubleshooting out-of-spec product or concerns on established products.
• Work with Quality Systems to set change process control requirements for existing products and provide data or data analysis upon internal and customer request.
• Adhere to Quality, R&D Procedures, GMP, and Safety Standards.
• Complete other required tasks as necessary.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Biology, Chemistry, Nutrition/Dietetics, or other related field required.
• Preferred minimum 3 years of experience in food product development & previous experience in food manufacturing.
• Preferred experience in benchtop formulation, prototype development, and hands-on testing in a food manufacturing or R&D environment.
• Experience in nutrition, dietetics, or nutritional analysis strongly preferred.
• Strong communication skills, problem solving, and activity planning.
• Ability to maintain a flexible schedule to accommodate production start-ups and/or adjustments required on second shift, including answering phone calls or emails pertaining to production issues.
• Ability to work independently while maintaining close communication and collaborative work relationships with all levels of the organization and with external customers.
• Strong organizational and time management skills with ability to prioritize and anticipate changing project needs and work efficiently in a fast-paced environment. 
• Must be willing to taste food products, including animal products, nut-containing products, or other potential allergens.

Physical Requirements

While performing the duties of this job, employees are regularly required to sit, walk and stand; talk or hear, both in person and by telephone; use hands repetitively to operate standard office equipment; reach with hands and arms; and lift up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision and the ability to adjust focus. Position will also frequently require time on the production floor, operating in standard seasonal warehouse and food processing plant temperature conditions. Work is completed in a facility where nuts, fruits, and other allergens are present.