Food Scientist - Innovation

Want to build a stronger, more sustainable future and cultivate your career? Join Cargill's global team of 160,000 employees who are committed to safe, responsible and sustainable ways to nourish the world. This position is in Cargill’s protein and salt business, where we provide wholesome, high-quality food products to a wide range of customers, from foodservice operators and grocery stores to manufacturers and exporters.
Job Purpose and Impact
The Food Scientist - Innovation will provide technical expertise to new product development supporting innovation pipelines across multiple product categories and customers. In this role, you will coordinate with other scientists and cross-functional partners, primarily marketing and insights, to innovate new product solutions to meet business goals. Key Accountabilities
Identify product growth and new product opportunities.
Analyze and interpret market data to take advantage of opportunities and minimize adverse trends.
Stay abreast of current literature and analytical advancements.
Provide technical guidance and leadership on products, process development and improvement, quality systems, and regulatory oversight.
Partner and stay connected with cross functional teams that include marketing, insights, sales, operations, food safety quality, and regulatory.
Provide findings and analysis with insights, research, and commercial brand to develop short- and long-term testing programs for experimental and commercial products and hybrids.
Collaborate and build partnership with sales, business management, and marketing partners to identify customer needs and translate these into new product development opportunities.
Interact directly with key retail and foodservice customers
Minimum Viable Product development and rapid prototyping
Independently solve moderately complex issues with minimal supervision, while escalating more complex issues to appropriate staff.
Other duties as assigned Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in a related field OR equivalent experience
Minimum of two years of related work experience
Experience working in a manufacturing environment
Experience working successfully in a matrixed organization
Operations experience
Prior experience in product development
Two or more years combined professional experience in the following areas: protein formulation development, ingredient functionality, and product commercialization.
Preferred Qualifications
Master's degree or other post-secondary degree
Strategic thinker with ability to build effective plans to support strategic initiatives
Tech-savvy and comfortable with evolving business-critical technology
Experience conducting continuous improvement events such as Kaizen, Six Sigma or Lean processes
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Position Information
This position requires ability to travel up to 30% of the time for customer visits and plant trials.
Equal Opportunity Employer, including Disability/Vet