Position Title: Senior Scientist
Position Type: Regular - Full-Time
Position Location: Florenceville PPTC
Requisition ID:23975
The Senior Scientist - Batters and Coatings is a key position within the Applied Technology and Innovation function. The team member is a Subject Matter Expert that brings to life best-in-class innovations in batters and coatings to develop products that are flavorful, crispy and delight customer and consumers. The position works cross-functionally with key stakeholders at all levels and delivers against the global batters and coatings innovation strategy and R&D technology roadmap.
The Senior Scientist serves as a technical leader for batters and coatings research initiatives with accountabilities that impact R&D design-thinking and the development and scale up of new innovation platforms and products. The position utilizes consumer-centric thinking, emotional understanding, competitive knowledge, and intuition, to drive research and innovative solutions that unlock competitive advantages. Leveraging advanced understanding of battered and coated products, ingredients, and their key functional attributes and testing methodologies, the Senior Scientist assesses the strategic fit and impact of new innovative product solutions. The position identifies, develops, and executes ingredient and processing technology centered solutions that guide the design of existing batters and coatings formulations to support cost enhancements and strengthen McCain's brands and market position.
As an integral part of McCain's R&D innovation process, the Senior Scientist - Batters & Coatings develops and utilizes appropriate ingredient and product testing protocols, design of experiment techniques and best practices to discover and incubate innovative and scalable ingredient platforms. The position typically collaborates with Product Development, Value Engineering, Technical Services, and the User Experience team.
The Senior Scientist - Batters and Coatings develops and oversees a network of internal and external experts including academia, startups, ingredient suppliers and other relevant industry partners who strategically align with McCain's innovation initiatives related to batters, coatings, and ingredients.
The Senior Scientist reports into the Manager R&D Applied Research and Ingredients.
1. Execute research and innovation in batters, coatings and ingredients that drive competitive advantage and strategically align with demand space objectives and technology roadmap initiatives.
2. Provide input supported by scientific data on functional ingredient properties that influence the performance of battered and coated products. Ensure innovative new ingredients will make our food taste extraordinary while bringing competitive advantages through innovative ingredients and new batter and coating technologies.
3. Build a strong external network including ingredient suppliers, research partners, academic institutions etc., to ensure McCain is on the forefront of new technology in Food Science and ingredients. Proactively collaborate and partner with the external network to create extensions of the team an accelerate deliverables.
4. Conduct research and innovation work to enhance the design and cost competitiveness of key global formulations. Transform learnings into internal best practices and deliver those learnings to McCain's global network of employees in Product Development and Value Engineering.
5. Act as a subject matter expert, working cross functionally across the company to provide technical insights and solutions regarding batters and coatings. Build training materials and transfer technical knowledge regarding batters and coatings to McCain peers in technical functions.
6. Develop new and govern existing intellectual property (IP) on batter and coating formulations to protect McCain and upkeep legalities in terms of IP ownership.
7. Build key internal R&D relationships (PD, sensory, regulatory, nutrition etc.) and communication channels locally, regionally, and globally to enable the sharing of ideas, pipelines, troubleshooting and best practices. Leverage relationships to enable innovation adoption and advancement.
8. Accountable for ensuring that appropriate and unbiased research is developed, executed and reported to internal and external stakeholders to help make development decisions and inform smart product and ingredient specifications.
9.
Required qualifications and experience: - Masters or PhD in Food Science, Food Engineering, Food Chemistry, Food Physics or related disciplines or equivalent industry experience in ingredients
- 5+ years relevant CPG industry experience
- 3+ years relevant experience with leading innovation focused research programs preferably related to food ingredients or batters and coatings
- Experience working in a global organization
- Demonstrated track record of supporting the delivery of winning product innovations through providing scientific input towards batters and coatings formulation development that addresses customers' needs
- Excellent analytical and decision-making skills, combined with the ability to think strategically and drive projects from development to completion
- Experience working with researchers, product developers, ingredient suppliers, open innovation service providers, academia, marketing, and quality/manufacturing
- Must understand food manufacturing at production scale
- Competent management and understanding of Intellectual property and legalities of external collaborations
- Candidates must have hands on approach; demonstrate a strong intellect and proficient skills in communications, combined with a drive to deliver results
- Ability to influence key stakeholders and peers.Ability to stand alone, set clear standards and hold other accountable. Courage to have difficult discussions with groups from all levels of the organization
- Excellent communication skills: is able to effectively and persuasively articulate positions both verbally and in electronic mediums to various audiences including senior executives in a clear, concise and compelling manner
- Strong team player, highly motivated, who can effectively interface with and present results to all levels of management and teams across the business. Proven leadership experience, passionate about creating a successful inclusive global team environment
- Ability to reconcile and navigate multiple stakeholder groups with differing priorities with a can-do mindset to maintain momentum
- Experience in managing external relationships with vendors, equipment manufacturers and consultants
McCain Foods is an equal opportunity employer. We see value in ensuring we have a diverse, antiracist, inclusive, merit-based, and equitable workplace. As a global family-owned company we are proud to reflect the diverse communities around the world in which we live and work. We recognize that diversity drives our creativity, resilience, and success and makes our business stronger.
McCain is an accessible employer. If you require an accommodation throughout the recruitment process (including alternate formats of materials or accessible meeting rooms), please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.
The health and safety of McCain employees and their families has been our number one priority since the start of COVID-19 pandemic. With vaccination restrictions easing across the globe we do not currently require employees to be vaccinated, but we reserve the right to change this mandate in line with health guidance and regulations in each country.
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Job Family:Research & Development
Division:Global Research and Development
Department: Senior Scientist
Location(s): CA - Canada : New Brunswick : Florenceville-Bristol
Company:McCain Foods (Canada). Date posted: 08/03/2023
