Food Scientist

Cargill’s size and scale allows us to make a positive impact in the world. Our purpose is to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. We are a family company providing food, ingredients, agricultural solutions and industrial products that are vital for living. We connect farmers with markets so they can prosper. We connect customers with ingredients so they can make meals people love. And we connect families with daily essentials — from eggs to edible oils, salt to skincare, feed to alternative fuel. Our 160,000 colleagues, operating in 70 countries, make essential products that touch billions of lives each day. Join us and reach your higher purpose at Cargill.

Job Purpose and Impact

The Food Scientist II will provide technical expertise to new product development for product line growth and technology and process development for the creation of new capabilities. In this role, you will coordinate with other scientists to innovate new product development by identifying and implementing technical solutions to meet business goals.

Key Accountabilities

• Identify product growth and new product opportunities.
• Analyze and interpret market data to take advantage of opportunities and minimize adverse trends.
• Stay abreast of current literature and analytical advancements.
• Provide technical guidance and leadership on products, process development and improvement, quality systems and regulatory oversight.
• Partner and stay connected with cross functional teams that include marketing, insights, sales, ops, food safety quality and regulatory.
• Provide findings and analysis with insights, research and commercial brand to develop short and long term testing programs for experimental and commercial products and hybrids.
• Collaborate and build partnership with sales, business management and marketing partners to identify customer needs and translate these into new product development opportunities.
• Independently solve moderately complex issues with minimal supervision, while escalating more complex issues to appropriate staff.
• Other duties as assigned

Our Benefits:

No matter who you are or where you are, we’ve designed our plans and programs to meet your needs. We want to help you take care of what’s needed for today and offer protection to help with tomorrow’s what-ifs.  You’ll have access to a wide variety of flexible and inclusive programs to meet your health, financial, and work/life needs to support you and help you succeed. Eligible programs and incentives include:

• Paid holidays and floating holidays
• Paid time off*
• Comprehensive health care plans
• Short term and long-term incentives
• Mental Health and Wellbeing program
• Digital Learning Library
• Retirement plans
• Paid time to participate in volunteer and community outreach opportunities
• Tuition reimbursement programs
• Relocation benefits for those that qualify

*Minnesota-based employees: Minnesota Sick and Safe Leave accruals of one hour for every 30 worked, up to 48 hours per calendar year unless otherwise provided by law.

Compensation:

The expected salary for this position is $69,000-$85,000. The disclosed salary has not been adjusted for the applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the position may be filled.

At Cargill we put people first.  As part of your overall rewards, we offer a comprehensive benefit program including medical and/or other benefits dependent on the position offered and hours worked.

Position Information:

• This role will be located in Plymouth, MN
• A strong candidate has been identified for this position. However we will consider all candidates who meet the requirements.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Right to work in the U.S. that is not based solely on possession of a student visa or a visa sponsored by a third-party employer
• Currently pursuing a Master's degree in Food Science or related field and graduating between Summer 2025 and December 2025
• Successful completion of the Cargill R&D Internship Program
• Willing and able to relocate to Plymouth, MN for this job opportunity.
• Experience conducting continuous improvement events such as Kaizen, Six Sigma or Lean processes
• Experience working in a manufacturing environment
• Experience working successfully in a matrixed organization
• Operations experience
• Prior experience in product management
• Two or more years combined professional experience in the following areas: protein formulation development, ingredient functionality and product commercialization.
• Minimum requirement of 2 years of relevant work expe