Senior Scientist at TH Foods, Inc. – Loves Park, Illinois

Position Summary

The R&D Senior Scientist plays a key role in driving innovation, product development, and continuous improvement for branded and private label products. This position is responsible for leading technical projects from concept through commercialization, developing new formulations, optimizing existing products, and supporting cost and quality initiatives. The Senior Scientist provides technical expertise, manages customer relationships, and ensures successful execution of development projects aligned with business objectives. In addition, this individual will lead key strategic initiatives within the innovation pipeline to develop and commercialize new product development projects that support long-term growth.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Other duties may be assigned.

Product Development & Innovation

• Lead key strategic initiatives within the innovation pipeline to develop and commercialize new product development projects.
• Develop new product formulations and prototypes that meet customer, consumer, and business expectations.
• Lead product optimization efforts, including reformulations for quality, functionality, and cost improvement.
• Prepare and deliver technical presentations and trend insights to internal teams and external customers.
• Observe, evaluate, and concisely and accurately document experimental data and results, leading to robust technical recommendations

Project Leadership & Execution

• Independently manage projects from ideation through commercialization with minimal supervision.
• Manage multiple priorities at a given time and engage with Manager and cross functional team to effectively communicate risks and tradeoffs.

• Collaborate with Operations, Quality, and Process Engineering staff to troubleshoot, problem-solve, and recommend solutions.
• Provide strong cross-functional partnership with Marketing, Sales, Engineering, Project Management, FSQA, and Procurement teams to ensure efficient and successful project execution.

• Execute plant trials, scale-ups, and new product startups; may require off-shift or extended hours.

Technical Expertise & Support

• Develop new product formulations on a bench/pilot scale and effectively scale up to commercial plant scale and provide technical validation.
• Review and approve specifications for raw materials, packaging, finished products, and manufacturing processes.
• Design, conduct, and analyze shelf-life studies to validate product and packaging performance.
• Provide timely and effective technical solutions to internal and external partners.

Operational & Compliance Responsibilities

• Work hands-on in pilot plant and production environments to support development, testing, and troubleshooting.
• Ensure adherence to food safety, quality, and regulatory requirements.
• Identify, communicate, and help resolve food safety and employee safety concerns.

Skills & Competencies

• Product development and formulation capability; deliver results across all phases of product development project cycle from concept development to commercial execution.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including technical presentation capability.
• Technology understanding in both ingredient and process technology and ability to apply to product development
• Ability to prioritize workload and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Customer-focused mindset with ability to partner professionally at all organizational levels.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities.
• Proficiency in standard office software (e.g., Microsoft Office).
• Flexibility to work off-shift hours when needed to support plant activities.

Required Qualifications

Education/Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science or Food Engineering required; Master’s degree preferred. Bachelor’s degree in a related field with relevant experience will be considered.
• 6+ years of food industry experience in product development, R&D, or related technical roles.
• Experience with baked and/or fried product categories strongly preferred.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• This position has no direct supervisory responsibilities.

Travel

Up to 15% travel required

Physical Ability

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear.

Work Environment

Work will be performed in a combination of areas including open office environment, pilot plant, and plant. This may include hot, humid, dusty conditions.