R&D Food Scientist III - Lyons Magnus LLC

Lyons Magnus leads the food industry with creativity and innovation, crafting top-quality products across all manufacturing phases, from raw materials to marketing. With over 2,000 diverse items for industrial ingredient and food service sectors, Lyons caters to leading restaurant chains nationally and internationally.

At Lyons, our diverse and talented staff is the heart of our organization. We foster a thriving work environment where employees are engaged in shaping both the company's and their own future.

This position is responsible for product development and commercialization of new products, product renovation and product maintenance projects. The R&D Scientist is responsible to manage project deliverables to contribute to achieving short and long term departmental and company objectives. This position will work closely with cross-functional partners in Marketing, Consumer Insights and Sales to carry out product design and development work leading to products that deliver on consumer and customer needs. The position works collaboratively with manufacturing, Quality and Supply chain functions to assure products consistently deliver on product design.

Salary Range: $88,000 - $103,000/ per year

Shift: Day

Schedule: Monday - Friday

Core Responsibilities:

• Direct the technical commercialization of new Lyons Magnus and customer products. Direct the coordinated development of new products and improvements of current products to deliver on objectives of the annual business plans. Apply sound culinary and scientific techniques to design products with consumer/customer-valued attributes.
• Lead and manage multiple development projects using detailed investigations, well-thought-out experimental design, sound scientific techniques and data-based decision making.
• Investigate for product and process challenges; provide creative solutions to solve challenges in development and commercialization.
• Establish professional relationships with fellow scientists and team members of our customers and suppliers.
• Work with other departments (Manufacturing, Engineering, Maintenance, Quality and Purchasing) to determine equipment, materials and processes necessary to produce products to maximize capacity and optimize product quality and differentiation.
• Assure technically sound sensory panels are conducted for product development, shelf-life studies, improving/maintaining present products and competitive testing.
• Identify and complete technical study of ingredients, suppliers, co-packers relevant to meeting project objectives and meeting Lyons Magnus standards.
• Develop supportive relationships with cross-functional peers within the Lyons Magnus marketing, sales, manufacturing, sourcing, engineering, finance, and business support functions.
• Build partnerships and leverage technical expertise of ingredient suppliers.
• Travel to manufacturing sites when deemed necessary to oversee plant trials and/or scale-up of critical products.
• Provide product demonstrations and presentations to customers when requested.
• Project management, alignment within all cross-functional departments for product commercialization. Gather, communicate and monitor sales forecasts for limited time offers and new product introductions.
• Update internal departments with project details, timelines, and customer requirements.
• Customer interface with select accounts.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work with cross functional teams, internally and externally (e.g. research institutes, representatives of processing and produce industries, suppliers, laboratories, etc.).
• Ability to work independently and as part of a technical team.
• Individual must have strong product development skills in ingredient functionality, material selection, and formulation.
• Candidate must expertly plan and conduct trials, data collection, and interpret results to drive program and technical knowledge forward, developing robust action plans, risk assessments, and contingency planning.
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills (pays attention to details and effort to understand causes instead of just the effects) and creativity for developing innovative solutions and applications.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with strong emphasis on technical presentations and reports.
• Excellent communication to external partners including customers and vendor network.
• Ability to effectively manage multiple projects under short timelines to produce commercially viable solutions.
• Proven ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong project management skills, influential savvy, and perseverance.
• Consistently meet deadlines.
• Self-motivated, self-starter
• Ability and willingness to work extended or odd hours when necessary.
• Ability to thrive in a fast paced, dynamic working environment.
• Mature, friendly, enthusiastic, and motivated team member.
• Effective written and oral communication skills.
• Excellent work ethic with proven ability to effectively balance multiple priorities.
• Ability to establish credibility with others.
• Ability to recognize and support the organizations preferences and priorities.
• Proficient in Excel, Access, Power Point, and ERP systems.
• Analytics skills, developing and building data models.
• Strong passion for science and creative problem solving.
• Technical knowledge with good reasoning and sound judgment abilities.

Education and/or Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required, advanced degree preferred, in Food Science, Dairy Science or an equivalent science program.
• Minimum 5 years' experience in an industrial or applied research environment in the area of food science and technology, processing, or new product development.
• Experience with Food Service and QSR is desired.
• Prior experience with customer interaction is required.