Sr. R&D Scientist

Who We Are

Since 1955, we have been on a mission To Passionately Feed Millions Daily with High Quality Food People Enjoy! We are a third-generation family-owned and professionally managed organization with a commitment to strategic growth. We continue to be successful because of talented people, just like you, who choose to join our family and call E.A. Sween home. We pride ourselves on fostering a welcoming, respectful, and rewarding culture where employees are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work each and every day. At E.A. Sween, our team members are seen, heard, and appreciated not just for what they do, but for who they are. We hope you’ll join us!

Compensation : The target salary range for this position is $115,00-$120,000 USD annually , consistent with our internal compensation framework. This position is classified as Grade 15, with a full pay range of $86,940.47 to $130,522.09 USD. You are eligible for an incentive bonus up too 10% of your annual salary, prorated based on your start date. Final pay will be determined by your experience, skills, internal equity, and available budget.

What We’re Seeking

We are seeking a Senior R&D Scientist to join our team and lead product development from concept through commercialization for ready-to-eat foods, with a focus on sandwiches, wraps, and handheld meals. This role combines culinary creativity, food science expertise, and manufacturing knowledge to develop great tasting products that clear business value. The Senior R&D Scientist will create prototypes aligned with brand, consumer, cost, and operational goals, then successfully scale them into production. The ideal candidate brings strong food science capability, hands-on product development experience, sound culinary judgment, and the ability to turn consumer-focused ideas into commercially viable products.

What You’ll Do (Responsibilities)

• Lead new product development projects from concept through commercialization.
• Translate culinary concepts into scalable products with strong consumer appeal, clear differentiation, and operational feasibility.
• Drive innovation, product renovations, quality improvements, cost savings, ingredient substitutions, and productivity initiatives.
• Design and execute experiments, analyze data, draw conclusions, and provide sound technical recommendations.
• Develop product formulas, processing instructions, specifications, technical documentation.
• Lead culinary standard development, bench top prototypes, plant trials and first production runs.
• Apply food science principles related to flavor, texture, moisture migration, water activity, pH, shelf life, and food safety.
• Integrate culinary thinking into product design, flavor development, ingredient selection, and consumer experience.
• Present concepts, prototypes, technical updates, and recommendations to cross functional leaders, customers and business partners.
• Serve as a technical subject matter expert during customer meetings, product presentations, and internal project team meetings.
• Influence cross-functional teams and guide decisions using data, sensory findings, technical knowledge, and business priorities.
• Mentor junior scientists, technologists, technicians, and cross-functional partners to build technical capability and execution discipline.
• Maintain accurate formulas, project files, trial reports, test data, specifications, and commercialization documents.
• Monitor on industry trends, new ingredients, processing technology, packaging formats, culinary trends, and competitive products.

What You’ll Need (Qualifications)

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Culinary Science, Food Engineering or a related field.
• 7 or more years of product development experience in the food industry.
• Strong culinary foundation with the ability to translate culinary concepts into scalable commercial products.
• Hands-on experience developing ready-to-eat foods, prepared meals, sandwiches, wraps, bakery-based foods, meat systems, cheese applications, sauces, spreads, or related CPG food products.
• Experience leading products from concept, bench development, prototype creation, plant trials, and commercialization.
• Strong understanding of ingredient functionality, formulation, food safety, shelf life, sensory evaluation, and manufacturing scale up.
• Strong sensory evaluation skills and ability to give clear direction on flavor, texture, appearance, aroma and eating experience.

Preferred Qualifications (if applicable)

• Master’s degree in Food Science, Culinary Science, or related field.
• Culinary degree or professional kitchen experience.
• Experience with ready-to-eat meals, sandwiches, sauces, proteins, bakery, deli, refrigerated foods, or convenience foods.
• Experience with chilled, refrigerated, MAP, and shelf-life sensitive food products.
• Experience with consumer research, sensory methods, DOE, statistical analysis, and data-based product optimization.
• Knowledge of PLM, ERP, formulation systems, specification systems, and project management tools.
• Experience supporting customer presentations, innovation sessions, and product cuttings.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

• This role works in office, laboratory, and production environments.
• Regular work in chilled production areas around 50°F may be required.
• The role requires frequent tasting and sensory evaluation of food products.
• Occasional lifting or moving of ingredients, samples, or supplies up to 25 to 50 pounds may be required.
• Some off-hour work may occur during plant trials, start-ups, commercialization runs, or customer deadlines.
• Travel up to 25 percent may be required based on business needs.

How You’ll Find Success at EAS

• Value People Most of All: Show respect & care, embrace diversity, and empower others.
• Commit to Safety Everyday: See something say something do something, practice safe behavior, and celebrate safety success.
• Invest in Our Company to Thrive: Share ideas to improve, learn & grow, and embrace change.
• Think Before Doing And Act Decisively: Make thoughtful decisions, work together to find solutions, and do what’s right.
• Welcome Constructive Straight Talk: Be honest and respectful even when difficult, be open to ideas and feedback, and ask questions to understand.
• Serve Up Exceptional Experiences: Provide value to customers, take pride in your work, and help others to be successful.
• Enjoy What You Do!: Have a positive attitude, Live the Spirit of E.A. Sween, and celebrate success.

E.A. Sween is proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the health, financial security, and well-being of our team members. Benefits include:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• 8 Paid Holidays
• Company-Paid Life Insurance
• 401(k) with Company Match – fully vested after 2 years
• Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Plans
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Employee Recognition Program (Boss Bucks)