Senior R&D Food Technologist at Shearer's Foods

Shearer's stands as a premier contract manufacturer and private label provider within the North American snack industry. Based in Massillon, Ohio, our organization operates 17 advanced manufacturing facilities across the United States and Canada, including a notable LEED platinum certified site. We take pride in crafting high-quality snacks, ranging from kettle-cooked and traditional potato chips to tortilla chips, extruded snacks, cookies, and crackers. We are currently seeking a Senior R&D Food Technologist to join our team in a hybrid capacity to drive innovation and excellence in our product development processes.

Key outcomes

• Lead the development and commercialization of salty snack flavors while managing relationships with seasoning vendors to meet productivity and sales objectives.
• Collaborate with external suppliers and internal cross-functional teams to source resources, resolve technical challenges, and foster innovation.
• Plan and execute the full lifecycle of product formulation and seasoning development, ensuring projects are completed on time through efficient resource management.
• Maintain rigorous documentation, including version control for formulations and raw material evaluations.
• Oversee multiple concurrent projects for various customers while conducting sensory evaluations and competitive product analysis.
• Execute plant trials, including pre-trial planning and post-trial evaluation, to validate new ingredients and product concepts.
• Provide technical leadership to manufacturing operations to troubleshoot processing issues and perform risk assessments for new developments.
• Analyze data to identify opportunities for quality improvements and cost savings that maintain our high standards for taste.
• Utilize systems like TraceGains to manage technical specifications, including allergens, nutritional data, and shelf-life requirements.
• Mentor team members to support their professional growth and operational effectiveness.

Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree in Food Science or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• At least 5 years of experience in the food industry, specifically focused on consumer product development, innovation, and formulation design.
• Proficiency with TraceGains and Genesis or similar tools for creating ingredient and nutritional fact panels.
• Strong capability in evaluating marketing and regulatory packaging claims.
• Experience working within a stage-gate product development framework.
• Advanced organizational skills using the Microsoft Office suite to track complex technical details.
• The ability to travel up to 10 percent of the time to visit production plants, suppliers, and customers.
• Fluency in English.

Preferred qualifications

• Prior experience conducting customer and consumer research.

Compensation

We provide a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health and well-being. This includes medical, dental, vision, and life insurance. We also offer a flexible work environment, opportunities for community volunteering, and an inclusive workplace culture that values equal opportunity for all employees.

How to apply

We invite you to submit your application to join our team. We look forward to reviewing your qualifications and discussing how your expertise can contribute to the continued success of Shearer's.