The Role
Develops, tests, refines, and commercializes snack food products for regional, national, international, and private-label markets. Conducts sensory evaluations, consumer and industry research, formulation and process improvement, regulatory reviews, technical documentation, and third-party testing. Collaborates with engineering, manufacturing, quality, marketing, packaging, sales, and operations teams to scale products, resolve technical issues, train personnel, and support successful product launches.
Summary Generated by Built In
Building a great career never tasted so good!
We are currently seeking a qualified individual for the Research & Development Technologist position, that lives in a commutable distance to our Nottingham, PA team to join them on-site!
- SCHEDULE: Monday-Friday 40+ hours a week
- BENEFITS: This position is full-time benefit eligible, elective benefits include:
- Medical, dental, hearing and vision insurance.
- Marathon Health Clinic - a premier on-site healthcare provider. A separate entity from Herr's, located at our Nottingham, PA facility. This facility ensures easy access to tailored healthcare services, preventative care, wellness programs, for employees on any medical plan
- Opportunity to contribute to a 401k, with a company match.
- Paid vacation, holiday and sick time.
- Paid Employee referral program.
Job Summary:
This role has the primary responsibility of developing new snack food products as well as refining existing products to meet customer and market needs/preferences. Formulates, tests, refines and commercializes snack food products for Regional, National and International markets, as well as Private Label Retailers. Collaborates with R&D specialists, process engineers, and manufacturing personnel to launch innovative snack food products on new and existing product lines.
This role has the primary responsibility of developing new snack food products as well as refining existing products to meet customer and market needs/preferences. Formulates, tests, refines and commercializes snack food products for Regional, National and International markets, as well as Private Label Retailers. Collaborates with R&D specialists, process engineers, and manufacturing personnel to launch innovative snack food products on new and existing product lines.
Key Responsibilities
Research and Development:
- Develops new and improved methods and systems for food processing, production, quality control, packaging and distribution.
- Develops methods to create and improve food product attributes such as flavor, color, texture, nutritional value, and convenience.
- Conducts sensory evaluations of prototype samples and competitive products.
- Conducts research to assess consumer trends and industry innovation.
- Reviews changes in industry regulations and makes formal recommendations to appropriate teams regarding product revisions or development.
- Develops finished product and process specifications.
- Conducts research on quality improvements, cost optimization, process improvement, ingredient innovation and process technologies.
- Assists with internal and external customer technical issues regarding ingredients, formulation and manufacturing.
Project Management:
- Initiates new product testing, then develops specific processing methods when scaling project to a manufacturing process line.
- Collaboration with Marketing Department for alignment on project details/requirements and co-management of timelines
- Confers with process engineers, flavor experts, packaging and marketing specialists to address any concerns.
- Facilitates technical expertise and training for operations, management, quality, sales and marketing to ensure completion of company objectives.
- Leads customer testing /sensory evaluation of product developments.
Regulatory Support
- Responsible for creating and managing technical documents.
- Reviews packaging film for accuracy
- Reviews nutrition fact panels and ingredient statements for compliance.
- Initiates and manages third party testing and laboratory data when needed.
Reporting and Analysis
- Complete detailed documentation of all projects.
- Develops reports and presentations that clearly and concisely communicate conclusions and recommendations for product development.
In addition to the essential functions listed above, the employee is expected to exercise honesty, integrity and respect with all clients and co-workers, preserve confidentially of all business information and data, maintain a professional appearance and demeanor, demonstrate a positive attitude, communicate effectively with co-workers and clients, work with accuracy, efficiency, and attention to detail, respect the work environment and keep it as environmentally friendly as possible, and exercise initiative to learn new skills and tasks and to help co-workers when possible. Reliable attendance and punctuality are also required. The employee is also expected to perform other related duties, special projects and functions as required from time to time.
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Arts/Science degree in Food Science, or related field preferred.
- 3-5 years related experience or training; food related research and development experience highly preferred.
- Can work independently or as a team, to include cross departmental collaboration
- Recognized as one who can use problem-solving and analytical skills to work toward creative solutions.
- Ability to effectively present information in one-on-one and small group situations to internal/external customers.
- Demonstrated experience with attention to detail, time management and excellent organization skills.
- Working knowledge of product commercialization and food & manufacturing processes highly preferred.
- Previous experience working in Safe Quality Food (SQF) environment preferred.
- Previous experience working with software and/or web-based portal systems (e.g.: OU direct, Genesis, Food Chain ID, etc.) preferred.
- Microsoft Office Suite experience required; advanced computing skills preferred.
Physical requirements and work environment:
- Performs work required for this position in a laboratory and manufacturing environment.
- Required to work in factory environment (running trials) for extended periods of time.
- Required to use a computer monitor, keyboard, and mouse for extended periods of time.
- Ability to lift up to 50 pounds on occasion.
Herr Foods Inc. is a drug-free workplace and an equal opportunity employer M/F/Veterans/Disabilities
#S1
About
Herr Foods Inc. is the largest privately owned salty snack food manufacturer and distributor in the country, we are based in Nottingham, PA and we think our 1600+ employees are pretty spectacular! We have been committed for the last 75+ years to making our Herr’s family business an enjoyable place to work!
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Food Science or a related field
- 3-5 years of related experience or training
- Food-related research and development experience
- Ability to work independently and collaborate across departments
- Problem-solving and analytical skills
- Ability to present information effectively to internal and external customers
- Attention to detail, time management, and organizational skills
- Knowledge of product commercialization and food manufacturing processes
- Experience in a Safe Quality Food (SQF) environment
- Experience with software or web-based portal systems such as OU Direct, Genesis, or Food Chain ID
- Microsoft Office Suite experience
- Advanced computing skills
- Ability to work in laboratory and manufacturing environments and run factory trials
- Ability to lift up to 50 pounds occasionally
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The Company
What We Do
Herr Foods Inc. is a family-owned company that produces and markets a wide variety of snack foods, including potato chips, pretzels, cheese curls, and popcorn.
