Research Associate-Chemistry

COMPANY DESCRIPTION
At Beyond Meat, we started with simple questions. Why do you need an animal to create meat? Why can’t you build meat directly from plants? Thus, we make plant-based meats that allow families to eat more, not less, of the traditional dishes they love while feeling great about the health, sustainability, and animal welfare benefits of plant protein. Our goal is to bring exciting change to the plate—and Beyond.
At Beyond Meat, we are focused on raising the bar on talent.  We are dedicated to shaping an inclusive culture that drives excellence, innovation, and results by enabling talent acceleration and development, engagement, and the employee experience.  The R&D Team is a matrix organization within Beyond Meat that is dedicated to creating food products that are leading the gold standard in plant-based proteins.  They are looking for an outstanding individual to join the Color team located in El Segundo, CA as a Research Associate. 
The Research Associate on the Chemistry Team plays a crucial role at Beyond Meat and needs a strong scientific background, excellent problem-solving skills, high attention to detail, a team-oriented mentality, to be self-motivated, creative, results-oriented, and resourceful. Research Associates have a keen understanding and hands-on experience with scientific procedures and methods and the ability to think beyond standard methods, as well as to independently lead and reach conclusions and deliver results within a matrix organization. 
They will command understanding of experimental proceedings and have the opportunity to make an immediate impact in our core scientific understanding and the application of chemistry research to food science and product development, and grow professionally using the skills described herein. This Research Associate candidate must have the ability to follow the Scientific Method, and possess the skill to use negative results as an opportunity to learn and develop.

TASKS, DUTIES, & GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support the R&D team in attaining short-term and long-term development goals; adapt to evolving scientific priorities
• Conduct scientific tasks under supervision including but not limited to designing and conducting chemistry experiments and interpreting results, developing new food chemistry methods and processes, investigating product and ingredient functionality, conducting instrumental analysis, developing and batching benchtop product formulations, evaluating benchtop product formulations using organoleptic and/or chemical and instrumental methods, optimizing and improving existing formulations, and developing and evaluating prototypes daily
• Develop knowledge of specialized chemistry and food chemistry information, lab techniques and SOPs/lab protocols
• Coordinate and participate in product evaluations with the team 
• Identify opportunities for innovation, cost reduction, and quality enhancement 
• Assist scientists with test objectives for research, product development, sensory and shelf-life experiments and assist with execution of sensory testing if needed
• Read scientific and technical literature and summarize information from multiple sources to inform project work and experimental design 
• Collaborate cross-functionally with internal Beyond Meat teams and outside vendors, such as ingredient suppliers, etc., to ensure success of products
• Collect, use and analyze quantitative data to guide flavor and product development 
• Participation in sensory studies may be required
• Maintain a laboratory notebook and experimental records; provide written and verbal reports of chemistry research activities
• Learn and abide by Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• Ensure that strict hygiene and food safety standards are met daily
• Protect Beyond Meat IP and confidential information
• Perform other assigned responsibilities and scientific techniques as needed
• Provide general laboratory support, source and purchase ingredient supplies, and share in laboratory organization and cleaning
• Assist in validating, calibrating, and collecting data from analytical instruments and maintaining equipment logs and service records
• Upload data to appropriate databases and/or spreadsheets
• May supervise Associate Research Associates and/or Lab Assistants

QUALIFICATIONS: Education, Technical Skills, and/or Previous Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Chemistry or related scientific discipline with 0-2+ years of experience
• Demonstrated experience in chemistry wet-lab research with significant project scope
• Experience with instrumental analysis in field of study is preferred
• Detail-oriented and ability to work with complex information and data from multiple sources, including technical and scientific data, organoleptic and s