Senior Product Developer

Seeking a highly skilled and experienced Senior Product Developer/Food Scientist to join our dynamic and growing R&D team.  This role is critical to our mission of developing innovative, custom dry ingredient solutions that deliver exceptional taste, texture, and functionality for our clients in the restaurant and foodservice industry.  In addition, this candidate will have proven experience in elevating technical / flavor capability to develop competitive, differentiated solutions.

This role will report directly to the Director of Research & Development but will have a dotted line role to the Director of Business Development (Sales).  This candidate will be part of a newly formed team (Sales, R&D, Research Chef) that will be responsible for bringing in the next 2-4 major chain accounts.  The ideal candidate has a proven track record of working collaboratively with restaurant chain Research & Development (R&D) and culinary teams to create tailored products that drive menu differentiation and consumer appeal.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Product Development: Lead the ideation, formulation, and development of custom dry blend products in collaboration with restaurant chain R&D and culinary teams.
• Customer Collaboration: Act as a technical expert and partner to customers, understanding their needs, translating them into actionable product concepts, and presenting solutions.
• Flavor Innovation and Research: Stay abreast of industry trends, new ingredients, and technologies.  Leverage flavor houses and ingredient suppliers to design unique, differentiated flavor profiles aligned with market trends and customer requirements.
• Prototype Creation: Develop and refine prototypes to support customer presentations, scaling formulations for manufacturing while maintaining quality and consistency.
• Project Management: Manage multiple development projects simultaneously, ensuring timely delivery of milestones, samples, and technical documentation.
• Technical Leadership: Provide expertise in ingredient functionality, process optimization, and formulation to scope and drive technically complex projects while meeting business, customers, and innovation objectives throughout the project lifecycle.
• Scale-Up Support: Lead feasibility assessments, factory trials and start-ups, development of specification and factory documentation, labeling verification, technical approval, shelf-life assessment and technical support for production.
• Market Insights: Stay informed on food trends, consumer preferences, and emerging technologies to identify innovation opportunities for the foodservice sector.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with internal teams, including Project Managers, Sales, Marketing, Procurement, Finance, Quality, Regulatory, and Operations, to ensure products are feasible, cost-effective, and aligned with project objectives, driving projects to completion.
• Regulatory Compliance: Ensure all products meet regulatory, labeling, and customer specifications, including claims, allergens and nutritional requirements.

**If you’d like to hear more about this opportunity and others we are currently working on, please contact Sam Kovacevic at skova@cps4jobs.com.

JO:  83.25KK
#LI-SK3

Salary

$120,000 - $140,000

Benefits

Medical, Dental, Vision, Long-Term Disability and 401(k).

Technical Qualifications:
Knowledge, Skills, and Experience:

• Education:
  • Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Culinary Science, or a related field (Master’s degree preferred)
• Experience:
  • Minimum 10+ years of direct experience in food product development, with food service channel experience focused on collaborating with restaurant chain R&D and culinary teams.
  • Experience working in manufacturing factories, R&D labs, and pilot plants.
  • Experience in products with a wide variety of applications.
• Skills and Knowledge:
  • Demonstrated track record of successfully delivering R&D projects on time and within budget.
  • Expertise in dry ingredient blending, formulation, and manufacturing processes.
  • Strong understanding of ingredient functionality (e.g., flavors, stabilizers, emulsifiers) and how to apply them in custom blends.
  • Ability to translate culinary insights into commercialized products that align with customer objectives.

**If you’d like to hear more about this opportunity and others we are currently working on, please contact Sam Kovacevic at skova@cps4jobs.com.

JO:  83.25KK
#LI-SK3