Research & Innovation Associate Scientist - Taste Modification

You may know McCormick as a leader in herbs, spices, seasonings, and condiments – and we’re only getting started. At McCormick, we’re always looking for new people to bring their unique flavor to our team.

McCormick employees – all 14,000 of us across the world – are what makes this company a great place to work.

 

We are looking to hire an Associate Scientist immediately at our McFONA site in Geneva, IL.

 

What We Bring To The Table:

The best people deserve the best rewards. In addition to the benefits you’d expect from a global leader (401k, health insurance, paid time off, etc.) we also offer:

• Competitive compensation

• Career growth opportunities

• Flexibility and Support for Diverse Life Stages and Choices

• We prioritize our communities and the planet we share. We are proud to be awarded as a Diversity Inc. Top 50 company for Diversity and have multiple Sustainability awards (ranking #22 in the World and #1 in Food Products)

• Wellbeing programs including Physical, Mental and Financial wellness

• Tuition assistance

 

Position Overview 

The position of Research & Innovation Associate Scientist – Taste Modification is responsible for supporting FONA’s innovation efforts through basic research and development of new and novel flavor-related technologies specific to McFONA’s core taste modification technology platform. Within this role, the Research & Innovation Associate Scientist – Taste Modification will be required to exemplify many different scientific inquiry characteristics necessary to assist the Research & Innovation Group with new customer product solutions.  This role requires supporting the vision and mission of the Taste Modification Senior Scientist.  This includes the support of taste modification-based research projects from conceptual experimentation to process and technology commercialization. The position will require the application of the scientific method to conduct research and report findings, conclusions, and executive recommendations in McFONA confidential reports or within industrial or academic domains, including scientific papers, invention disclosures, and patent applications.

 

The Research & Innovation Associate Scientist – Taste Modification role requires understanding instrumentation and equipment necessary to characterize taste modification research. This position is responsible for optimizing instrumentation and flavor applications from lab-scale to production-scale processes, creating SOPs, and providing training support to teammates as needed. This role involves running and maintaining our electronic sensing instrumentation.

 

This position is also responsible for following the commercialization processes outline and applying the selection of appropriate prototype flavor products to support the customer’s needs. This role assists in prototype formulation, flavor application, and building technical credibility with external customers through project interaction and reporting. This role may require supervising technicians, research assistants, and interns as needed.

 

 

Key Responsibilities:

 

Project Management and Research Execution

• Support research projects on experimental designs as prescribed by Research & Innovation Group leadership
• Apply the scientific method to expand further McFONA’s Research & Innovation taste modification platform developments
• Support, conduct, and report research in the pertinent areas of McFONA’s Research & Innovation platform as they align with the Business Unit Group strategy
• Support drafting McFONA confidential reports or within industrial or academic domains, including scientific papers, invention disclosures, and patent applications.
• Collaborate with flavor chemists and food scientists to develop and optimize customer-specific projects
• Provide essential support to McFONA’s leadership team in the line extension and development of taste modification platform technologies that result in profitable growth for the company

 

Taste Modification Ingredient Knowledge

• Support the optimization of current McFONA taste modification technologies.
• Work with Research & Innovation Group members and strategic partners to develop a rich understanding of newly created technologies and how they apply to Business Unit Groups to offer McFONA’s customers new solutions continuously
• Support proper commercialization of flavors and technology from bench-top through manufacturing scale, including shelf-life confirmation.
  • Sensory and analytical experimental design and data generation
  • BU and customer support on sample preparation and evaluation
  • New ingredient efficacy and feasibility evaluation