Associate Food Scientist

About the Role

Reporting to the Research and Development Manager, this role supports innovation and margin expansion across the premium meat snacks portfolio, including Slim Jim. The role requires a strong interest in meat snacks, consumer preferences, and emerging food trends to develop products that excite consumers and strengthen the snacking portfolio. Based at the Innovation Tech Center in downtown Chicago, the role involves hands-on work with products from early concepts and prototypes through plant trials, scale-up, and commercialization.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop new meat snack products from concept through successful commercialization.
• Create and evaluate product formulations and prototypes, exploring ingredients, flavors, textures, and processing approaches.
• Design and conduct experiments and prepare results for review.
• Lead product cuttings, prototype evaluations, testing, and other hands-on product development activities.
• Plan and execute plant trials and new product start-ups in partnership with manufacturing and cross-functional teams.
• Develop product development schedules to support project milestones and commercialization timelines.
• Work hands-on with pilot plant equipment to create, test, and refine product prototypes.
• Learn and use the online specification system to support product development and commercialization.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to bring new meat snack ideas from concept to market.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science or a related field.
• Knowledge of food product design, formulation, ingredient functionality and interactions, process design, product scale-up, plant testing, and commercialization.
• Understanding of food industry quality and food safety standards and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations.
• Experience managing and prioritizing multiple projects and timelines.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills with experience working across teams to accomplish research goals.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office software.

Physical Requirements: May require working in manufacturing facilities. This can involve walking, climbing stairs/ladders, kneeling, performing repetitive tasks, and lifting/carrying materials. Manufacturing environments may have high noise levels and varying temperatures.

Compensation

Pay Range: $59,000 - $79,000 annually.

Benefits

• Health: Comprehensive healthcare plans, wellness incentive program, mental wellbeing support, and fitness reimbursement.
• Wealth: Great pay, bonus incentive opportunity, matching 401(k), and stock purchase plan.
• Growth: Career development opportunities, employee resource groups, on-demand learning, and tuition reimbursement.
• Balance: Paid-time off, parental leave, flexible work-schedules, and volunteer opportunities.