Senior Food Scientist

The Irca Group is an International Leader in high quality finished and semi-finished ingredients for the bakery, pastry, and ice cream markets. With a solid history of over 100 years in the industry, the Group has its headquarters in Italy (Gallarate) and a strong global footprint with 23 production sites and over 2000 employees in Europe, the United States and Vietnam.
Our core product categories include chocolate, compounds, chocolate decorations, sprinkles, creams, pastry mixes, gelato ingredients, nuts and candied fruit. The most recent acquisition of Kerry Sweet complements our existing categories with the addition of sweet particulates, chocolate confections, inclusions, variegates and frozen fruit purees.
Through its 8 key brands (IRCA, Dobla®, in2food, Via Degli Orsini, JoyGelato, RaviFruit, Cesarin and Anastasi®) the IRCA Group offers an unparalleled "one-stop shop" approach for delivering quality solutions to all ingredients needs, through a broad range of innovative products. We offer every day and seasonal solutions to 3 macro channels: Gourmet, Food Manufacturing and Consumer Product (Retail). “Extraordinary made simple”
We are seeking an experienced Senior Food Scientist to work onsite at our lab located in Affton, MO. The ideal candidate may travel to Beloit, WI for a period of time to train but will be based in Affton, MO and work at our lab there.
This is an exciting role as we developing a new Center of Excellence and focusing on growing our Chocolate portfolio and develop new products. The focus will be to consistently improve food quality including flavor, color, texture, nutritional value, convenience, as well as the physical, chemical, and microbiological composition of food. Support production of customer projects by working collaboratively with the production plant(s) during start up through scaling and commercialization processes. Understand competitive market to meet and exceed customer project expectations and production requirements for commercialization of products. 

Essential Job Duties and Responsibilities include:

• Lead development of chocolate formula projects including novel formulas and product emulations on time and within budget
• Manage initial sample preparation and coordinate shipment to customers
• Manage product through scale up from bench to pilot plant and pilot plant to production facility
• Support Purchasing and Manufacturing on product, formula, ingredient and process optimizations
• Represent R&D on customer calls and during onsite customer visits and plant trials
• Complete of documentation required for commercialization and knowledge retention in a timely manner
• Interact closely with cross-functional group of technical, professional, and managerial staff of R&D, as well as Manufacturing, Engineering, Sales, and Marketing. 
• Mentor and train junior team members as appropriate
• Actively identify new ingredients, processes, and products for innovation activities though interactions with vendors, attendance of tradeshows, and market surveys

Professional and Personal skills:

• BS in food science or related field, including chemical engineering, food engineering,   MS preferred.  
• 3-5 + years experience in food industry leading R&D projects.  
• Experience with Chocolate highly preferred.
• Experience working and collaborating with global teams, leveraging external and internal resources to accelerate development timelines.
• Ability to thrive in entrepreneurial environment and act as an owner with a high level of autonomy.
• High level of comfort working through ambiguity and with changing priorities.
• Ability to taste and smell chemical, flavors, and other food products (including dairy, soy, wheat, and milk)
• Ability to quickly synthesize technical information and translate into business opportunities. 
• Ability to communicate technical challenges and solutions to a non-technical audience.
• Excellent organization, teamwork, communication skills (verbal and written) and follow through.
• Proficient computer skills (basic knowledge of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams) along with ability to learn new systems. 
• Lift up to 50 pounds unassisted. Must be able to stand for long periods of time in a laboratory setting.
• Domestic travel to customers and production plants as necessary to meet objectives of the role. Opportunity for international travel.  Total travel approx. 20%. 

Why Join Us:
Irca Group offers career growth opportunities as well as competitive compensation and benefits: Medical, Dental, & Vision, 401(k) matching, Paid Vacation, and Holidays, Employee Education Tuition Reimbursement Program