R&D Specialist

Job Title : R&D Specialist

Location : Plano, TX

Shift : 8am - 5pm(Mon - Fri)

Job Overview:

• As part of the Food Experience and Product Development Core Product Function R&D team, you will be responsible for executing product development work as it relates to evaluation, analysis and integration of different analytical and sensory techniques required to evaluate snack product viability and quality, primarily in the platforms of Extrusion and Tortilla Chips.
• The primary focus of this position will be supporting current product development projects by performing analytical and sensory bench-top experiments, data collection, handling/organization, sample management and various project management skills.
• Additionally, this role will provide an integrative approach in the product development process since it will require integration of different analytical tools and sensory techniques to obtain fundamental understanding around extruded and tortilla chip – based products.
• This position will require systematic lab execution skills combined with time management and prioritization skills in order to thrive in hand-on fast-paced environment while managing parallel experiments. Additionally, it is expected from you to be familiar on data handling, and processing (good excel skills expected and knowledge of other data software tools is a nice to have).

DESCRIPTION OF JOB DUTIES & REQUIRED SKILLS:

1. Perform analytical and sensory bench-top experiments related to snack products.

2. Capable of understanding experimental requirements and paying attention to detail during design and execution of experiments.

3. Capable of managing and handling large numbers of samples across different settings (lab, storage, freezer, etc.) with order and efficiency.

4. Capable of collecting, processing and presenting data in a manner that enables good decision making (Expertise in excel is expected, and knowledge on other data software platforms is a nice to have).

5. Capable of interacting with other associates to independently identify and organize resources to comply with experimental agenda.

6. Capable of setting up product reviews with team.

REQUIRED SKILLS:

• Science degree (preferably Chemistry/Food Science major) or equivalent industry experience 3 years with food/beverage product and/or process development.

• Experience in conducting experiments in science.

• Self-motivated and comfortable doing repetitive tasks and parallel experiments.

• Excel/Word/MS Outlook - Microsoft product proficient. Other data analysis software is a nice to have.

• Good communication skills – oral and written (e.g. communication on telephone)

• Good organizational skills

• Attention to detail

• Works well in a team setting, working with multidisciplinary teams to achieve project objective