Senior Food Scientist

The Senior Food Scientist is a leading member of the Product Development and a cross- functional team responsible for delivering the initiatives, business plan, and objectives of High Liner Foods Inc. The Senior Food Scientist applies scientific, culinary and engineering principles in research & development, production technology, quality control, processing and utilization of ingredients to design, develop and produce new and/or improved products. The Senior Food Scientist is a Research & Development Subject Matter Expert for the organization and acts as a mentorship/coaching/training role within the PD Department.

This position plays a major role in leading the creation of new products and therefore plays an important part in supporting HLF's overall strategic goals.

Essential Duties and responsibilities

Product Development

• Leads the development of new products and/or product optimization through HLF project management system including:
  • Gold standard development
  • Formulation development
  • Bench top preparation and testing
  • Sensory evaluation/product cuttings with internal cross functional team members
  • Sample preparation for various activities
  • Customer presentation
  • Specification development
  • Cooking Instruction Development
  • Organoleptic Shelf-Life Studies
• Collaborates with Sales and/or Marketing to define project parameters based on customer input/request.
• Leverages vendor relationships to deliver new products and products optimized products on time, within cost and quality
• Leads the coordination, design and execution of line test and first production processes.
• Provides technical expertise for all internal and external customers
• Leads the development and training of SOPs for the PD team and cross functional team members where applicable
• Acts as a mentor/coach for R&D team members.

Continuous Improvement:

• Leads problem solving with Purchasing and Procurement teams regarding ingredient and raw material substitutions and cost saving initiatives.
• Lead and collaborates with Quality Assurance, Production, Purchasing, Procurement and Engineering to identify root causes and solutions when quality issues are clearly identified.
• Provides approval for modifications to existing product formulas and/or processes to improve productivity, quality and/or cost.

Operational Excellence:

• Educates and ensures accurate laboratory and project work documentation.
• Leads R&D meetings to update and report project status and issues to broader team and leads corporate training sessions as needed.
• Leads and collaborates with the Commercialization Team through the stage gate process.
• Recommends and influences processes improvements within R&D and cross functional team members in order to drive efficiency and profitability through the organization.
• Acts as a SME on ingredients and researches and recommends new ingredient opportunities.
• Collaborates with Process Engineer and other SME's to be a leader in the knowledge of food manufacturing processes and equipment as they apply to the seafood industry and the food industry.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of experience and a B.S. in Food Science or related degree
  • Seafood and Value-Added Coating Knowledge is a plus.
  • Culinary training is a plus.
  • Knowledge of Sensory testing an asset.
• Experience in coaching and mentoring team members
• Leadership in various environments includes but not exclusive to manufacturing and processing.
• Able to handle multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent time management skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Self- Motivated; Able to work with little supervision, eagerness to learn and grow.
• Proficient in MS Office

Working conditions

This position is located at High Liner Headquarters. The position involves daily or frequent contact with satellite R&D groups, operations, business channel managers, sales, procurement, purchasing, regulatory, and quality assurance managers. It also involves external contact with suppliers. The position requires frequent and occasional travel, domestically and internationally.

Physical requirements/Allergens

The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to walk, sit, talk, listen, and reach with hands and arms. The employee is required to use hands to handle, operate, and feel objects, tools, or controls. The employee is occasionally required to operate a motor vehicle to travel to off-site meetings. The employee must have visual acuity sufficient to operate a motor vehicle and digital camera, as well as other office and position equipment. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus. Employees must be able to hear and speak clearly in order to communicate with clients, coworkers, employees and vendors.

Must be able to lift up to 25lbs

Must be able to stand for extended periods of time.

Allergens found inside the plant include fish, shellfish, nuts, eggs, wheat, soy, milk and coconut.

Travel

North American Travel to visit suppliers and manufacturing locations required. (Travel 20% to 30%)