Food Scientist

Position Summary: 
The Food Scientist at Calbee America is responsible for leading product development initiatives across our branded portfolio — including Harvest Snaps (Extruded) and Asian-Style Chips (Potato Chips) — as well as our Co-Manufacturing (OEM) and Private Label (PB) businesses.

This role drives innovation through new product development, quality improvements, and cost-saving initiatives while conducting technical research, collaborating with third-party partners, and providing critical support for commercialization and plant trials.

The Food Scientist ensures product integrity from concept through commercialization, develops and refines raw material specifications, and maintains accuracy in Bill of Materials (BOMs) and related documentation. They will work cross-functionally with Marketing, Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering, Quality Assurance, and Procurement to ensure alignment with Calbee’s strategic objectives and high product standards.

Key Responsibilities:

Research & Development: 

• Lead formulation development from bench-top through commercialization, including cost tracking of ingredients for trials.

• Accurately document all R&D activities, including formulations, processing parameters, and trial results.

• Conduct validation studies, support product start-ups, and provide on-site technical assistance at Calbee plants.

• Drive innovation through new product concepts, quality enhancements, productivity or cost-savings initiatives.

• Manage multiple projects simultaneously, ensuring alignment with business priorities and timelines.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Marketing, QA, Engineering, Supply Chain, Procurement) to ensure successful product launches.

• Maintain technical expertise through ongoing research, industry benchmarking, and professional development.

• Develop, refine, and standardize raw material specifications to ensure product consistency and quality.

• Maintain a centralized database for raw material specifications accessible to all stakeholders.

• Audit and correct existing BOMs in the system to ensure accuracy with actual formulations and production processes

Food Safety & Compliance: 

• Comply with all applicable regulatory requirements, including OSHA, EPA, FDA, HACCP, and SQF.

• Understand and apply SQF and food safety standards in daily activities and documentation.

• Support continuous improvement in food safety and quality processes across all R&D activities.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Culinary Science, Food Process Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related field.

• Minimum of 3 years of product development experience in consumer-packaged goods (CPG); snack food or fried/extruded product experience strongly preferred.

• Proven success in the development and commercialization of snack or similar food products.

• Passion for food science, innovation, and consumer-focused product design.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and project management skills.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; ability to work collaboratively across departments.

• High attention to detail and adaptability in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

• Knowledge of potato, pulse, rice, or corn-based snack technologies a plus.

• Basic or conversational Japanese or Spanish preferred but not required.

• Proficient in MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and Windows operating systems.

• Familiarity with R&D and production equipment such as extruders, dryers, fryers, seasoning systems, and analytical instruments (e.g., salt analyzer).