Food Scientist

The Marzetti Company (Nasdaq: MZTI) manufactures and sells specialty food products. Our retail brands include Marzetti® dressings and dips, New York Bakery garlic breads, and Sister Schubert’s® dinner rolls, in addition to exclusive license agreements for Olive Garden® dressings, Chick-fil-A® sauces and dressings, Buffalo Wild Wings® sauces, Arby’s® sauces, Subway® sauces, and Texas Roadhouse® steak sauces and frozen rolls. Our foodservice business supplies sauces, dressings, breads, and pasta to many of the top restaurant chains in the United States.

At Marzetti, our mission is to make every meal better through high-quality, flavorful food. Led by our purpose, to nourish growth with all that we do, our team members are dedicated to creating great tasting food and cultivating deep and lasting relationships.

We kindly request that recruitment agencies and staffing firms refrain from submitting unsolicited resumes to our company. Any resumes sent without a prior agreement and access to proper submittal into the ATS will be considered the property of T. Marzetti, and we reserve the right to contact those candidates without any obligation to pay a fee.

A Food Scientist I is responsible for development and design of dressing and sauce products from concept to successful commercialization. This role consists of daily bench development, analytical testing, data management and specification development throughout the scale up process from lab to manufacturing facilities. This position works in partnership with cross functional teams as well as external suppliers and customers.  

Product Development: 

• Develop salad dressings or sauces from ideation to commercialization while delivering agreed-upon product characteristics and requirements.  

• Develop products from various sources including customer recipes, duplicating competitors’ or other target samples or creating new blue-sky products. 

• Investigate and select ingredients to improve product quality, shelf-life, and sensory attributes. 

• Optimize existing products for taste, texture, stability, and cost efficiency. 

Testing & Quality Assurance: 

• Create new products to achieve desired flavor, functional performance with a fundamental understanding of food safety relevant to product area and spoilage prevention approaches through formulation and processing. 

• Perform sensory evaluations, shelf-life testing, and analytical assessments (e.g., acidity, pH, viscosity, microbial stability)  

• Ensure compliance with food safety regulations and company quality standards. 

• Collaborate with the Quality Assurance team to maintain consistent product performance. 

Product Commercialization: 

• Partner with Commercialization team and facilities to transition formulations from the lab to full-scale manufacturing. 

• Develop processing procedures and product specifications; attend and travel to processing facilities to oversee the implementation of new products in the plant. 

Regulatory & Labeling Compliance: 

• Work with regulatory teams to develop ingredient statements and nutrition labels. 

• Ensure compliance with all labeling guidelines, allergen regulations, and international food laws. 

Working Conditions/Environment: 

Works in a normal office environment where the employee is regularly required to speak, see, hear, sit, stand, talk, type, walk and bend while moving about the facility. The noise level in the office is quiet, while in the plant it is lout. Occasional travel to plants or meetings is required. 

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Technology, or related field 

• 0-5 years’ experience in food product development, process improvement, and/or commercialization. 

• Strong knowledge of food science, ingredient functionality, and food safety regulations. 

• Innovative mindset and a passion for creating exceptional food products.