R&D Scientist- Nut Butters

Business Unit Overview

Headquartered in Lakeville, Minn., Post Consumer Brands, a business unit of Post Holdings, Inc., is dedicated to providing people and their pets with delicious food choices for every taste and budget. The company’s portfolio includes beloved brands such as Honey Bunches of Oats®, PEBBLES®, Grape-Nuts® and Malt-O-Meal® cereal, and Peter Pan® peanut butter, as well as Nutrish®, Kibbles ‘n Bits® and 9Lives® dog and cat food. As a company committed to high standards of quality and to our values, we are driven by one idea: To make lives better by making delicious food accessible for all. For more information about our brands, visit www.postconsumerbrands.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook for the latest news.

Brand

At Post Consumer Brands, we’ve spent generations showing up for families, starting with breakfast, the most important meal of the day. Our cereals have become a trusted part of daily routines, helping spark conversations, fuel busy mornings, and create everyday moments that bring families closer together, including their furry four-legged family members, who have recently become a part of our story. As families have evolved, so have we. What began at the breakfast table has expanded into snacks, peanut butter, and, more recently, pet food, because caring for a family means feeding every part of it. With the addition of several iconic pet brands, we’ve extended our purpose: to make high-quality, accessible food for everyone under the same roof.

This phase is still new, and that’s what makes it exciting. As we continue to grow across grocery and pet, we’re looking for people who care about good food, thoughtful work, and the kind of impact that stretches from store shelves to kitchen tables, and food bowls, across the country.

Location Description

Post Consumer Brands corporate headquarters in Lakeville, Minnesota, is about 20 miles south of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Lakeville has all the benefits of smaller town living with access to everything a large metropolitan area has to offer. Join more than 400 team members collaborating on the two-building campus to help put breakfast on the tables of millions of consumers in North America.

Responsibilities

Join Our Innovation Team as an R&D Scientist - Nut Butters!

Are you passionate about food innovation and ready to take your product development skills to the next level? We’re looking for a creative and results-driven R&D Scientist to join our team at our Fitzgerald, GA production facility. In this role, you’ll lead the development of new nut butter products and improve existing formulations from bench-top to full-scale production. You’ll collaborate cross-functionally to drive innovation, optimize processes, and support cost-saving initiatives—all while helping shape the future of our beloved brands. If you thrive in a hands-on, fast-paced environment and are excited about making a tangible impact, we’d love to hear from you!

NOTE: The actual job location is in our Fitzgerald, GA production facility

Day To Day Responsibilities

• Develop new products and improvements to existing products. Assure that product activities meet company cost capacity, quality, marketing and product development requirements.
• Improve and develop extensions to existing brands using laboratory bench top, vendor facilities and full-scale manufacturing systems. Ability to go from bench top to full scale production.
• Provide design and processing parameters inputs for new products, capacity improvements, and equipment design.
• Support the identification and solution of cost savings issues, product/packaging change issues, equipment modifications, manufacturability issues, etc., using appropriate scientific principles.
• Support validation of process and product parameter changes at the plant level (e.g., equipment, process, or product related).
• R&D commercialization lead for new products & corporate cost savings projects.
  
  
  

Qualifications

• Must have strong analytical skills and sound business judgment including demonstrated problem-solving and trouble-shooting skills.
• Proven innovation and creativity skills.
• Organizes and manages projects; interacts, supports, facilitates, and leads multi-functional work teams; leads teams to consensus; strong negotiation skills.
• Results driven for being the low-cost producer and supporting company growth strategies.
• Ability to work effectively in a team-based environment with multiple functional groups, in a collaborative and positive manner.
• Solves highly complex problems and prioritizes actions in a timely manner. Probes all sources for answers and can quickly sense what will help resolve issues.
• Lays out work in a well-planned and organized manner.
• Able to build strong and diverse relationships across the business groups they partner with. Supports and fosters change.
• Job location in Fitzgerald, GA production facility
• Travel is required (US and Canada) for plant trials, start-ups, trade show/conference participation and/or customer meetings up to 15%
  
  
  

Education

Minimum of a 4-year degree in food science, engineering, or other technical degree.

Experience

2+ years of experience in the food industry in either product or process development roles. Experience in product formulation, process optimization, scale up from bench to pilot plant to plant production, cost savings and quality improvements. Prefer experience in nut butters, fat-based fillings or spreads, or fats/oils, but not required.