Sr. Food Scientist, Snacks
Apply NowCompany: Ardent Health Services
Location: Denver, CO 80219
Description:
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PRODUCT INNOVATION R&D: SNACKS SENIOR FOOD SCIENTIST
Ardent Mills
Ardent Mills is a premier flour-milling and ingredients company whose vision is to be the trusted partner in nurturing its customers, consumers, and communities through innovative and nutritious grain-based solutions. Ardent Mills' operations and services are supported by 35 community flour mills, three bakery-mix facilities and a specialty bakery, all located in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Deeply rooted in communities throughout North America, Ardent Mills employs more than 100 certified millers, supporting thousands of local jobs and contributing billions of dollars to local economies.
Position Purpose
Ardent Mills is searching for a Snacks Senior Food Scientistwho would be responsible for research and development projects focused on creating new ingredients and/or food applications or improving existing ones.The ideal candidate for this position will have the ability to work with multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. They will need to be able to work effectively in a team environment across multiple business units and teams, as well as be a strong individual contributor. The Snacks Senior Food Scientist would ensure food safety compliance, enforce regulations, and provide technical guidance.
A successful candidate will have the following attributes:
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
GOOD TO HAVE:
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORKING CONDITIONS (WITH OR WITHOUT REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION):
At Ardent Mills, everyone matters and everyone has a voice. We are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal opportunities are available to all applicants and team members and the decisions will be based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, aboriginality, ancestry, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, genetic information, veteran status, age, political affiliation, or any other non-merit characteristic protected by law or not. Together, celebrating our differences, we make Ardent Mills.
The preceding position description has been designed to indicate the general nature and essential duties and responsibilities of work performed by employees within this position. It may not contain a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees in this position. The description, duties, functions, and responsibilities are subject to change at the discretion of Ardent Mills.
PRODUCT INNOVATION R&D: SNACKS SENIOR FOOD SCIENTIST
Ardent Mills
Ardent Mills is a premier flour-milling and ingredients company whose vision is to be the trusted partner in nurturing its customers, consumers, and communities through innovative and nutritious grain-based solutions. Ardent Mills' operations and services are supported by 35 community flour mills, three bakery-mix facilities and a specialty bakery, all located in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Deeply rooted in communities throughout North America, Ardent Mills employs more than 100 certified millers, supporting thousands of local jobs and contributing billions of dollars to local economies.
Position Purpose
Ardent Mills is searching for a Snacks Senior Food Scientistwho would be responsible for research and development projects focused on creating new ingredients and/or food applications or improving existing ones.The ideal candidate for this position will have the ability to work with multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. They will need to be able to work effectively in a team environment across multiple business units and teams, as well as be a strong individual contributor. The Snacks Senior Food Scientist would ensure food safety compliance, enforce regulations, and provide technical guidance.
A successful candidate will have the following attributes:
- The ability to deliver results in first-time situations by inspiring others and working to earn trust every day.
- The willingness to serve others with understanding, respect, and care.
- The ability to operate with simplicity, clarity and transparency.
- The willingness to effectively deal with and drive change.
- The ability to organize, prioritize and own multiple tasks while meeting and/or exceeding deadlines.
- The ability to learn and apply new technology, with the willingness to share knowledge with others.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Assist in developing and advancing consumer centric innovation pipeline by collaborating with key cross-functional partners while leveraging resources, the broader R&D team, and external expertise.
- Build insights based on development learnings to accelerate product development timelines.
- Manage and lead the development of multiple technically complex projects, creating technical plans, timelines, risk assessments, and mitigation plans. Challenge assumptions and identify opportunities to push the boundaries of what's possible.
- This position will support customers as well as our customers teams on-site or at their facilities within North America
- Ensure completion of Product Technical Transfer document, engaging Operations, Quality, Regulatory and Marketing stakeholders to ensure seamless manufacturing scale up
- Structure work streams to ensure technical excellence and deliver projects on time, in full:
- Characterize ingredient functionality
- Apply design of experiments and other statistical tools. Skilled in data analysis and making recommendations to stakeholders
- Formula development
- Process development
- Plan all phases of product scale up (bench, pilot, commercial)
- Sensory science (analytical, affective) studies
- Contingency planning
- Identify 3rd party facilities (if applicable) necessary to ensure project success (e.g., pilot trials, co-manufacturing sites)
- Compile, analyze, and manage data and close projects with Product Technical Transfer document to ensure seamless handover to Operations and Quality Control
- Responsible for the product development and innovation activities from bench top to scale-up of formulations in the Snack Food category
- Documentation:Maintaining accurate and detailed records of experiments and observations.Disciplined in keeping Lab Notebook entries accurate and up to date
ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- B.S. or M.S. degree in Food Science, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry or related field. Requires 7-10 years industry experience
- Demonstrated leadership with a history of delivering results
- Desire to challenge assumptions and identify new opportunities
- 5+ years of product development experience
- Strong communication, strategic thinking,and organization skills
- Ability to manage multiple projects independently
- Ability to thrive in a business-facing role and represent a strong technical voice
- Strong acumen in business processes
- Experience in the development and launch of snack products such as extruded salty food forms, sweet goods, and cereal based beyond simple prototype development is required. Must understand the impact of plant processing and be able to design formulations accordingly.
- Experience in product scale-up and commercialization is required.
- Strong understanding of general sensory testing, including its application to product development, is required.
- Proven experience owning responsibility for product launches (consumer, raw materials)
- Ability to partner with broader R&D team, manufacturing plants, and external suppliers
GOOD TO HAVE:
- Sensory: analytical (R&D, Operations) and affective (consumer)
- Statistics: Design of Experiments, Six Sigma
- Global Experience: consumer packaged goods companies, ingredient suppliers, flavor & fragrance suppliers
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORKING CONDITIONS (WITH OR WITHOUT REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION):
- Travel: 10 - 25%
- Lifting/Carrying: Capable of carrying items 10 lbs. or more
- Capable of conducting work at company facility, third party pilot plants, with potential visits to manufacturing facilities (company owned, third party)
At Ardent Mills, everyone matters and everyone has a voice. We are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal opportunities are available to all applicants and team members and the decisions will be based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, aboriginality, ancestry, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, genetic information, veteran status, age, political affiliation, or any other non-merit characteristic protected by law or not. Together, celebrating our differences, we make Ardent Mills.
The preceding position description has been designed to indicate the general nature and essential duties and responsibilities of work performed by employees within this position. It may not contain a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees in this position. The description, duties, functions, and responsibilities are subject to change at the discretion of Ardent Mills.