Food R&D Scientist (Baking)

About the Company

Our client is a well-established leader in the Bakery manufacturing industry. With decades of success and continuous growth, they are recognized for their innovative solutions and commitment to quality. They value collaboration, professional development, and take pride in delivering excellence to their customers.

About the Role

We are seeking a hands-on R&D Food Scientist to lead product innovation across our clean-label bakery and dough-based portfolio . This is a sole-contributor, highly technical role that collaborates directly with Sales and company leadership to design, test, and commercialize new baked goods and bread-style products.

The ideal candidate has strong experience in bakery formulation —bread, rolls, dough products, tortillas, cookies, crackers, or similar—and the ability to translate customer needs into market-ready, scalable formulations .

You will work closely with customers, owning the full development cycle from concept through commercialization. This role is perfect for someone who thrives in both hands-on bench development and customer-facing collaboration , converting ideas into innovative, high-quality bakery products.

Responsibilities

New Product Development & Innovation

• Collaborate with Sales/Marketing and Innovation Engineering to develop new bakery and dough-based products , from early concept to successful commercialization.
• Conceptualize, prototype, and refine formulations with a focus on bread, bakery items, dough systems, and clean-label ingredients .
• Conduct plant trials and support full-scale production start-ups for innovation and renovation projects.

Customer Collaboration

• Act as a technical partner to customer R&D, Culinary, and QA teams.
• Present prototypes, discuss formulation strategies, and translate customer feedback into actionable development steps.

Formulation & Documentation

• Maintain formulas, SOPs, and ingredient specifications in company systems.
• Generate Nutrition Facts Panels and ingredient statements.
• Drive change management for formulations, including issuing approved recipes and BOM updates.

Ingredient Sourcing & Supplier Interaction

• Work with Procurement to identify, evaluate, and source bakery-appropriate ingredients that meet marketing, functionality, and quality requirements.
• Liaise with corporate teams to verify new suppliers, raw materials, and conduct feasibility assessments.

Shelf-Life & Product Performance

• Coordinate and conduct internal and external shelf-life studies for bakery and dough-based products.

Process Improvement & Cost Optimization

• Review formulas to identify cost-saving opportunities without compromising product quality or performance.
• Lead efforts to consolidate similar raw materials while maintaining product integrity.
• Evaluate new processing technologies and functional ingredients that align with emerging bakery trends.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Project Management

• Manage development timelines and communicate progress to internal partners.
• Work with Finance to build early-stage cost models.
• Participate in co-manufacturing or third-party development when needed.
• Serve as a key member of the NPD implementation team.

Technical Expertise

• Reverse-engineer existing bakery or dough-based products for matching projects.
• Stay current with ingredient functionality, dough rheology, and bakery process technologies.
• Perform other R&D-related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Microbiology, or related field ; Master’s preferred.
• Minimum 5 years in product development , preferably in bakery, bread, doughs, cookies, crackers, tortillas, or similar categories.
• Hands-on experience in bakery formulation , dough systems, fermentation (if applicable), ingredient functionality, and scale-up.
• Understanding of formula costing and financial feasibility.
• Knowledge of food safety programs (HACCP, GMP).
• Familiarity with process capability, quality control, and ISO 17025 standards.
• Understanding of SQF and food safety program design.

Required Skills

• Strong communication skills (verbal and written).
• Ability to build collaborative relationships across teams.
• Effective at leading change and influencing stakeholders.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects.
• Expertise in food product design, ingredient interaction, scale-up, and commercialization.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
• Action-oriented problem solver with ownership and accountability.

Preferred Skills

• Previous experience in bread, bakery manufacturing, clean-label formulation, or dough-based operations .
• Experience in supply chain or operations is a plus.
• Strong analytical and documentation skills.