Job Description:

Position Summary:About the job: The job involves working collaboratively with Ventura's Chefs, R&D, Operations and Quality staff to develop on-trend salad dressings, sauces and mayonnaise from benchtop through plant production that help our customers delight their customers. Periodically, it also causes grinning from ear to ear and fist-pumping when you are sitting at home watching a TV commercial or driving along in your car and spot a billboard advertising one of our customer's menu items that contains a product you had a hand in creating. We can't promise your unbridled enthusiasm won't annoy your friends and family but that's just how you roll.The Right Candidate: This person exhibits humility by being self-confident and proposing and implementing solutions to complex technical and creative challenges while being open to other points of view. The candidate is hungry, meaning they are self-motivated and diligent, but also looking to eat. Finally, this candidate is an interpersonally appropriate and aware individual. Experience in the development of salad dressings, sauces and mayonnaise for the fast-paced foodservice market along with some back-of-house food preparation experience is a plus but we recognize that everyone hasn't been lucky enough to live that dream yet.Major Duties and Responsibilities:Develop formula and benchtop prototypes that meet product concept parameters, customer specifications and requirements.Work with internal and external customers as needed in new product development and reformulations.Reformulate products or update processing protocols for product improvement, cost reduction or manufacturing efficiency improvements.Responsible for formula risk assessment review and historical data review for existing formulas, setting performance specifications.Responsible for qualifying new ingredients through evaluation of raw materials to ensure compliance with ingredient specification, food safety requirements, employee safety, and finished product quality.Responsible for leveraging the process development team for insights on developing process parameters and ingredient handling instructions and evaluating and mitigating risk to our manufacturing sites.Plan and execute pilot plant and experimentation work, including analyzing and summarizing results as needed.Responsible for manufacturing packet creation and leading minor and major projects from concept to commercialization.Utilize Genesis for product development, recipe analysis, nutrition analysis and government compliant labeling.Maintain knowledge, understanding and adhere to safety policies, FSMA, GMP's, QA, HACCP, Sanitation rules and regulations, and company policies.Adhering to all safe practices and GMP's for the tests being performed.Responsible for overall project management, communication to sales, marketing, operations, senior technical services staff, and customers.Keep accurate records of timelines, development work, documentation, formulation modifications, project management tracking software system updates.Responsible for managing 15-20 active projects at various stages of commercialization.Recommends andor initiates projects within existing programs andor business channels.Design as well as participate in the coordination, monitoring, testing, and reporting shelf life stability testing activities.Provides in depth theoretical expertise in one or more technical core competency areas.Represent Ventura Foods as the subject manager expert with internal and external customers.Maintain awareness of current trends in consumer taste preferences and nutrition.Identifies new hypothesestechnology and designs and conducts research program to verify validity. May recommend patent action.Trains and may supervise others as appropriate.Represents supervisor or department as required at meetings. May interview and recommend hiring of technical personnel. Other duties as assigned.Education and Experience:B.S. or M.S. degree in Food Science with 7+ years experience in the food industry or equivalent combination of education and experience, food development experience required.Experience in commercialization in a food manufacturing or processing environment is required.Ability to travel 5% is required.Experience working with culinary, culinary degree or relevant hospitality food production experience preferred.Experience in formula development and commercialization is required, emulsion development preferred.Knowledge and Skills:Must have general understanding of food codes and regulatory guidelines and the ability to research regulatory matters as needed.Must have the ability to holistically analyze opportunities and risk and formulate well-reasoned recommendations for the business.Must have strong project management skills and be able to manage projects from bench to commercialization, with the ability to manage multiple projects concurrently, prioritize, and manage to project timelines.Must possess an understanding of ingredient functionalityinteractions and sensory evaluation techniques.Must have knowledge in one or more technical disciplines.Must possess organizational skills and the ability to communicate clearly with all levels of personnel through written and verbal communications.Must be proficient in MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook).Must have knowledge of lab and pilot processing equipment.An understanding of emulsion science, flavor development, and the basic science of process technology.Must be able to perform duties with minimal supervision.Must possess technical writing and presentation skills.Understanding of business systems such as JDE, Genesis, AS400.Be an adept critical thinker with excellent problem-solving skills.Diversity & Inclusion:Our commitment to a diverse and inclusive environment in which all employees are treated with respect is evident in our company culture and values. We believe that fostering an environment of inclusion and a focus on diversity across our organization is vital to attracting top talent, driving innovation, and meeting the high expectations of our customers in a rapidly evolving global marketplace.Ventura Foods is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.