Food Product Development Scientist - Back to Nature

Back to Nature is on a mission to bring consumers super tasty remakes of America's classic snacks with quality and simple ingredients. We helped plant the seeds of the natural foods movement in the 1960s and are reigniting the brand for a new generation of snackers. Our brand is ready for its next phase of growth driven by our dedicated Back to Nature team with the support & resources of the Barilla Group, a multinational expert in delicious, quality food.

We believe that the best snacks are made by happy people. Our collaborative, insurgent team is building a unique culture focused on driving success while making employee well-being a top priority. We live out our 'Good VIBES' values and deliberately cultivate an insurgent brand culture that embodies who we are and how we work. We are proud of how we support our hard-working employees through strong benefits that align with our core values. In the spirit of achieving high levels of employee satisfaction and productivity, we don't cap time away from work, provided job performance remains acceptable. In addition, we proudly offer competitive health and wellness benefits along with provide leave policies that allow for taking the time you need, when you need it.

Job Purpose

Reporting to the Head of R&D at Back to Nature, the Product Development Food Scientist at Back to Nature is responsible for providing product development and formulation leadership across categories of cookies, crackers, & nuts to advance growth and quality objectives and ensure business continuity for Back to Nature's insurgent brand. The candidate must develop and execute key technical projects to meet business initiatives, aligned with our product development strategy. This includes crafting new formulations, analyzing product, quality, and sensory data, documenting results, crafting playbooks, drawing conclusions, communicating results, translating consumer insights, reacting to market trends, and commercializing products. It also includes focus on margin enhancement projects, "clean ingredient" sourcing, and product formula optimization work. Communication and cross-functional teamwork skills are essential in this role which operates in a dynamic and collaborative environment. Key cross-functional partners include: Marketing, Operations, Packaging, Sales, Finance, external ingredient/product suppliers, third-party consultants, co-manufactures and other key business partners. The ideal candidate must also have a technical background and be able to apply prior learning or scientific principles to new situations. The candidate is expected to lead multiple projects concurrently and exhibit a highly collaborative, start-up owner's mindset to apply innovative, high impact solutions for the Back to Nature business. Bakery and/or baked goods experience will be a strong plus and highly preferred. The candidate will be based in the Minneapolis, MN metro area with ability to commute to the Back to Nature office located in St Louis Park, MN enabling close collaboration with cross-functional business partners.

How the Role Will Measure Success

• Responsible for developing and commercializing new products, renovating existing products, reviewing and evaluating ingredients, executing key projects and delivering cost savings to meet the business platform and innovation objectives.
• Enable proactive cross-functional collaboration and influence across Packaging, Quality, Operations, Marketing, and Sales teams to drive, scope, and complete projects while meeting key business objectives.
• Serve as a strategic expert in food product innovation across raw materials, ingredient and baking tech and formula design unlocking margin, innovation and renovation opportunity to shape our core and future products.
• Bring trends/insights to influence future innovation white space opportunities
• Craft product development playbooks that can be leveraged for business review and real-time decision making, unlocking ongoing opportunity and value.
• Conduct feasibility assessments, prototype development, costing, supervision of manufacturing trials, development of recipe and plant documentation, label development, technical approvals/qualifications, shelf-life assessment and technical support for production.
• Leverage product lifecycle software to create, organize, and maintain specifications for raw materials, formulations, and finished products with relevant consumer and regulatory information.
• Apply prior learning or scientific principles to new situations to generate new solutions with an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Manage multiple assignments/tasks concurrently and demonstrate the ability to complete work with minimal guidance, reporting on progress in a clear and effective manner cross-functionally and with senior leadership.
• Exhibit a collaborative mindset, resilience in the face of change and uncertainty, and creative solutions in line with working in a start-up culture.

What You Will Bring to the Table

• Bachelor's Degree required: BS/MS in Food Science & Technology, or related field. Master's degree preferred.
• 5+ years in a technical function in the food industry with Product Development experience highly preferred.
• Self-starter with a passion to learn with a relentless drive to solve problems and develop novel solutions, exhibiting an owner's mindset and entrepreneurial spirit.
• Strong understanding of food chemistry, formulations, quality control, nutritional analysis, ingredient technologies, food regulations, packaging and processing technologies used in food manufacturing; strong understanding of co-manufacturing would be valuable.
• Ability to solve problems creatively and with an owner's mindset, exhibiting curiosity in finding better options/solutions.
• Excellent communication, influencing, project management and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to function and influence effectively in a cross functional team environment.
• Manage multiple assignments/tasks concurrently with the ability align work to the priorities of the business.
• Access to a home kitchen, storage space and ability to support light bench development work at home is required.

Additional Expectations

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  Minneapolis-based required

  
  
• Ability to travel 20-25% with no destination restrictions.
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  References are required.

  
  

Back to Nature is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of Back to Nature to prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type and to afford equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other classification protected by federal, state and local laws and ordinances, nationally and internationally.Other classifications include, but are not limited to, family status, health status, multicultural differences, political ideas and sexual orientation and identity.