Food Technologist, Sr

 

Location: Fort Worth, TX 

Exemption: Exempt 

 

OUR COMPANY:

Ventura Foods is a leading global manufacturer of branded and custom food products that proudly helps food providers in the U.S., Canada and more than 60 other countries earn a special place on consumers’ tables.  We do this by continually crafting custom dressings, sauces, mayonnaises, and other food solutions that exceed peoples’ expectations for great-tasting flavors and high-quality ingredients.

Headquartered in Brea, California, Ventura Foods operates 14 manufacturing facilities, 3 culinary centers, and numerous distribution centers across North America. When you work in our manufacturing and distribution facilities, you get a strong foundation of training, a manager who cares about you and celebrates your success, a safe environment, and challenging work.  As part of our team, your future is limited only by how much you’re willing to push yourself to get there. We invest in your growth, because you invest in ours.

Position Summary:

About the job: The job involves working collaboratively with Ventura’s chefs, R&D, Operations and Quality staff to develop on-trend salad dressings, sauces and mayonnaise from benchtop through plant production that help our customers delight their customers.  Periodically, it also causes grinning from ear to ear when you are sitting at home watching a TV commercial or driving along in your car and spot a billboard advertising one of our customer’s menu items that contains a product you had a hand in creating. 

The Right Candidate: This person exhibits humility by being self-confident and proposing and implementing solutions to complex technical and creative challenges while being open to other points of view.  The candidate is hungry, meaning they are self-motivated and diligent, but also looking to eat.
 

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Responsible for formula creation, revision, evaluation and validation prior to manufacturing packet distribution to the plants. Design formula to meet customer specifications and requirements. Utilize nutrition database for product development, recipe analysis, nutrition analysis and government compliant labeling. Responsible for leading minor and major projects from concept to commercialization. Adhering to all safe practices and GMP's for the tests being performed. 
• Responsible for overall project tracking, communication to sales, marketing, operations, senior technical services staff, and customers. 
• Design as well as participate in the coordination, monitoring, testing, and reporting shelf-life stability testing activities.  
• Provides in depth theoretical expertise in one or more technical core competency areas.
• Recommends and/or initiates projects within existing programs and/or business channels.
• Identifies new hypotheses/technology and designs and conducts research program to verify validity.  May recommend patent action.
• Trains and may supervise others as appropriate. 
• Represents supervisor or department as required at meetings.   May interview and recommend hiring of technical personnel.
• Other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in food science or related field, Biology, Chemistry or equivalent experience and 5+ years food laboratory experience required.
• Experience in a food manufacturing or processing environment.
• Up to 25% travel to other manufacturing locations in US.
• Experience in the development of salad dressings, sauces and mayonnaise for the fast-paced foodservice market, but we recognize that everyone hasn’t been lucky enough to live that dream yet.  That said, we are open and eager to coach the humble, hungry and smart candidate with a food science or related degree along with 5+ years of experience in any aspect of the food processing environment.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Must have general understanding of food codes and regulatory guidelines and the ability to research regulatory matters as needed.
• Must be able to manage projects from bench to commercialization.
• Must possess a basic understanding and knowledge of ingredient interactions.
• Must have basic knowledge in one or more technical disciplines.
• Must possess organization, project management and effective written and verbal communication skills are required.
• Must know Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
• Must have knowledge of lab and pilot processing equipment.     
• An understanding of emulsion technology, dry blend technology, flavor development, and the basic science of process technology.

#ZR

 

Diversity & Inclusion:

Our commitment to a diverse and inclusive environment in which all employees are treated with re