Senior Food Scientist (On-Site Passaic County, NJ Lab)

A Better For You Growing Snacks company is hiring for a Sr. Scientist!

The Senior Scientist plays a pivotal role in advancing technical platforms, ingredient innovation, and process feasibility for snack and confectionery products. This position is responsible for developing scalable, science-based solutions that support the company's innovation pipeline. The role emphasizes early-stage formulation development, ingredient functionality, predictive modeling, and technical risk assessment to ensure successful product development prior to commercialization. And this is how you'll do it...

• Support the Research & Technical Development Lead in developing, optimizing, and expanding core technology platforms, including probiotic systems, fiber-enriched systems, sugar-reduction systems, hydrocolloid systems, and protein-enhanced systems.
• Conduct ingredient functionality studies to understand structure-function relationships and performance characteristics.
• Develop scalable, reusable technical frameworks that support multiple product innovation initiatives across the pipeline.

2. Advanced Formulation Science

• Design, develop, and optimize complex formulations for snack and confectionery applications.
• Investigate critical formulation attributes, including texture stability, moisture migration, hydrolysis risks, glass transition behavior, and shelf-life performance.
• Conduct structured root cause analyses to resolve technical challenges and translate scientific findings into robust, scalable formulation strategies.

3. Process Feasibility & Technical Risk Mitigation

• Evaluate key processing parameters, including heating profiles, vacuum conditions, Brix, pH, and water activity (Aw), to ensure process robustness and product performance.
• Identify technical and scalability risks early in the development process and recommend mitigation strategies.
• Support pilot-scale trials and collaborate with commercialization teams to enable successful scale-up.

4. Stability Prediction & Product Performance

• Design and execute accelerated and real-time stability studies to assess product performance.
• Establish technical quality benchmarks for texture, moisture, color, active ingredients, and other critical quality attributes.
• Analyze stability data to predict product shelf life and guide formulation improvements.

5. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Product Development to ensure a seamless transition from research through commercialization.
• Provide technical expertise to analytical, quality, regulatory, and compliance functions.
• Support supplier technical evaluations, ingredient qualification, and raw material validation activities.

6. Documentation & Technical Governance

• Maintain accurate, complete, and compliant formulation records and technical documentation within designated systems.
• Prepare comprehensive technical reports, development summaries, and risk assessments to support internal decision-making and project governance.

Keyword: Food Scientist, New Product Development, Food Science, innovation
Required Experience:

• Masters degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemistry, or related field.
• 2+ years of experience in snack and/or confectionery and/or gummy and/or bars of R&D.
• Strong knowledge of hydrocolloids, fiber systems, sugar reduction systems, and moisture control mechanisms.
• Experience in pilot plant or manufacturing scale-up environments preferred.
• Availability to be on-site 5 days a week in Passaic County, NJ Lab

Compensation budget up to $90k base, bonus and benefits!