Senior Commercialization Scientist (United States)

About the Role

As Senior Commercialization Scientist, you will independently lead the scale up and commercialization of new food products from benchtop and pilot development through full-scale production across Rubix Foods' value-added manufacturing and co-manufacturing network.

This position serves as a senior technical individual contributor and project owner, working closely with cross-functional internal and external partners including Research & Development, Culinary, Quality Assurance, Quality Control, Regulatory, Sales, Supply Chain, Marketing, and manufacturing partners to deliver successful customer launches.

To be successful in this role, you must combine strong food science and manufacturing expertise with disciplined project management. You must be able to assess technical risk, troubleshoot production challenges on the manufacturing floor, influence cross-functional resources without direct authority, and independently drive multiple commercialization projects to completion in a fast-paced environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Independently lead the scale up of new products from benchtop and pilot development through full-scale commercial production, ensuring customer requirements for product performance, quality, and attributes are achieved.
• Own active commercialization projects from initiation through successful production completion, including project plans, critical milestones, risks, cross-functional deliverables, and status reporting.
• Review approved formulas with R&D and assess potential manufacturing risks, process variables, equipment limitations, and scale-up considerations for each manufacturing facility.
• Develop, document, and implement production processes and provide training or technical direction to manufacturing teams to ensure consistent production to specification.
• Develop and support product specifications, quality standards, processing requirements, and customer documentation in coordination with R&D, Quality, Regulatory, Supply Chain, and Sales.
• Publish and maintain complete Commercialization Packets containing formulas, procedures, analytical requirements, COA information, labeling requirements, process parameters, and manufacturing instructions.
• Lead and document production trials; analyze process and product data and perform bench or pilot work as needed to troubleshoot manufacturing challenges affecting finished-product quality.
• Work directly with co-manufacturing partners to understand and document processing capabilities, identify constraints, and determine the appropriate process for customer-specific products.
• Coordinate cross-functional activities and information needed to meet commercialization timelines; proactively identify roadblocks and escalate material risks that could impact launch timing or customer commitments.
• Manage the product approval process internally and with customers, including samples, sensory evaluations, product attributes, documentation, and approval follow-up.
• Identify potential quality, regulatory, labeling, food-safety, or specification concerns early in the commercialization process and engage the appropriate subject-matter experts before production.
• Serve as a technical resource after commercialization when established products experience significant processing or performance issues, supporting root-cause analysis and return to steady-state production.
• Provide peer review of Commercialization Packets, technical calculations, specifications, and process assumptions to strengthen accuracy and knowledge sharing across the Commercialization team.
• Maintain technical knowledge of manufacturing capabilities, process limitations, product-specific watch-outs, and lessons learned to support continuity and future commercialization work.

Key Attributes

• Experienced food scientist with direct responsibility for scaling newly developed foods from benchtop or pilot scale into full commercial production
• Strong manufacturing-floor experience with unit operations, process equipment, production troubleshooting, and technical problem solving
• Proven project management capability with the ability to independently own timelines, milestones, risks, and cross-functional deliverables
• Experience working with co-manufacturers or multiple manufacturing facilities and influencing internal and external partners without direct authority

Qualifications

• Location: Remote or hybrid. Regular travel to Rubix Foods in Jacksonville, FL and manufacturing or co-manufacturing locations is required based on project needs.
• Education: Bachelor's Degree in Food Science or a related field required. Master's Degree preferred.
• Experience: Minimum 5 years of direct food manufacturing commercialization and scale-up experience, with demonstrated responsibility for independently leading products from development through full-scale commercial production. 7+ years strongly preferred.
• Manufacturing Experience: Significant hands-on experience in food manufacturing environments is required. Experience working directly with third-party or contract manufacturers is strongly preferred.
• Organizational Skills : Must be able to independently prioritize and manage multiple projects at different stages of commercialization while maintaining clear timelines, documentation, follow-up, and risk visibility.
• Communication Skills: Must communicate effectively across technical and non-technical functions, manufacturing partners, customers, and all levels of the organization; must be comfortable driving action without direct authority.
• Technical Skills: Strong understanding of food processing unit operations and scale-up principles with the ability to use technical data to troubleshoot challenges involving mixing, pumping, shear, temperature, viscosity, solids, filling, packaging, and finished-product performance. Working knowledge of specifications, labeling, and regulatory considerations is required.
• Leadership Skills: Must demonstrate senior-level technical ownership, sound judgment, and the ability to guide cross-functional teams, challenge assumptions constructively, identify risks early, and influence decision making through successful project completion.
• Travel: Up to 70% domestic travel may be required based on production schedules and commercialization activity.
• Supervisory Responsibilities: This is a senior individual-contributor role and does not have direct reports.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance
• Telehealth-for you and your family
• Best in Class Sick and Paid Time-Off (PTO)
• Matching 401(k)
• Career growth & development
• Recognition and rewards programs
• And so much more

About Rubix Foods

Rubix Foods is a full-service product development house with end- to-end manufacturing capabilities. We blend culinary creativity, food science, and consumer intelligence to fuel innovation for the industry’s most exciting, high-momentum brands. From concept to commercialization, we streamline and accelerate the entire product development journey – delivering white-glove service, disciplined execution, and consistent results that raise the bar every time.

Our Vision: To be the food industry’s first call – known for our speed, trusted for our quality, and chosen for our reliability.

Our Mission: To solve the food industry’s toughest problems – creatively, collaboratively, and with unrivaled speed and execution.