Associate Scientist

job purpose:  

We are seeking an independent and driven Associate Scientist to join our R&D team as a Method Developer & Project Owner. This role marks a pivotal career step on our team, transitioning from executing assigned tasks to fully owning experiments and scientific decision-making. Operating with project-level ownership, you will be responsible for driving specific workstreams end-to-end, developing comprehensive research plans, and validating underlying physical and chemical mechanisms. This is a hands-on opportunity centered on benchtop lab work with pilot plant support as needed, where you will apply scientific judgment to translate raw data into actionable, contextualized business insights. 

 

responsibilities: 

Experimental Ownership & Method Innovation 

• Design, set up, and execute scientific experiments, ensuring all work aligns with broader project goals and strict scientific rigor. 

• Innovate within the laboratory environment by adapting analytical methods, optimizing existing testing protocols, and validating new analytical approaches. 

• Continually improve laboratory practices by writing, establishing, and implementing new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). 

 Root Cause Analysis & Technical Troubleshooting 

• Actively engage in cross-functional root cause analysis to investigate and resolve complex technical and product quality issues. 

• Apply independent scientific judgment to troubleshoot analytical and process deviations, contributing insights that go beyond simple task execution. 

 Cross-Functional Influence & Communication  

• Translate and report complex scientific data into clear, actionable insights for an expanded group of cross-functional stakeholders, including QA, Supply Chain, Plant Operations, Marketing, and Consumer Insights. 

• Communicate technical findings with clear business context and impact, focusing on the "why" behind the results rather than just reporting raw data. 

 Knowledge Transfer & People Leadership 

• Operate with a high degree of day-to-day autonomy to lead seamless technical knowledge transfers across R&D and manufacturing networks. 

• Provide active peer-to-peer coaching, technical guidance, and mentorship to junior technicians within both the R&D and Quality departments. 

 

skills/qualifications required:  

Required: 

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master's degree in Food Science or Dairy Science, or a closely related scientific field. 

• Experience: 1-3 years of laboratory experience within food, beverage, or fluid dairy R&D/manufacturing environments. 

• Technical Competence: 

• Proven experience in method development, protocol optimization, and authoring technical SOPs. 

• Hands-on proficiency with analytical laboratory instrumentation (such as rheology, physical chemistry testing, or compositional analysis). 

• Demonstrated ability to apply independent scientific judgment to move projects from data collection to mechanistic understanding. 

• Strong communication and collaborative skills, with a track record of sharing data clearly with cross-functional partners like plant operations and quality teams. 
   

Preferred: 

• Direct experience supporting pilot plant operations or commercial scale-up trials. 

• Strong foundational knowledge of dairy, physical chemistry, protein stability, or fluid milk matrix interactions.