Natural Development is a small team of multi-talented food scientists, chefs, quality assurance experts, and operations specialists dedicated to helping companies develop and launch innovative food and beverage products from start to finish. Our main competency is food and beverage recipe development, so this position is located in a fully outfitted food lab in Boulder, CO.

Never heard of us? We’re not surprised. We're a small-and-mighty team of food scientists, chefs, quality-assurance experts, operations specialists, and marketers dedicated to helping food companies develop and launch innovative food products from start to finish. We love working in the background ensuring that our clients get all of the credit. We have helped some of the largest companies in the natural food and beverage space, as well as several rising stars. Our efforts have resulted in multiple awards for our clients and we pride ourselves on a stellar experience from start to finish.

We are looking to fill a truly unique position combining technical research and development, as well as team leadership and an entrepreneurial spirit. You will work with an excellent team of creative, supportive and enthusiastic individuals in a relaxed environment. You’ll have the best of both worlds, working with an incredible team as well as an individual contributor. This role will directly impact and shape our company as well as our client's companies. 

The Job:

This role will have you working 80% in technical research and development for client projects, and 20% on team and strategic management. 

• Develop new, innovative products and work on improvement of existing products, leveraging expertise in food chemistry, food ingredient functionality and manufacturing.
• Utilize scientific approaches regarding R&D technical functions such as benchtop development, sensory science, food safety, shelf life testing, label claims, packaging and commercialization.
• Source quality ingredients and qualify new ingredient suppliers.
• Conduct recipe scaleup, from benchtop development to manufacturing and commercialization.
• Act as a technical resource to support quality and formulation issues.
• Provide product costs analysis based on commodities, ingredients and product formulations.
• Utilize computer formulation software to create, document and update formulations.
• Design and deliver to clients comprehensive product specifications, including formulation data, nutritional guidelines, food safety and sensory details. 
• Lead co-packer sourcing and relationships. Suggest initial order quantities for ingredients and packaging materials.
• Participate in scale-up production trials and ensure products are made to spec.
• Provide ongoing technical expertise and thought leadership to potential clients through our “Ask a Food Scientist” service.
• Communicate clearly and efficiently with our clients and project manager about timelines and project changes.
• Provide guidance, feedback and direction to junior food scientists using best practices for a wide variety of projects.

About you:

• ​​Education: BS in Food Science or related degree with 5+ years; MS with 3+ years of food product development experience. 
• Advanced technical knowledge in food chemistry, engineering/processing, quality assurance and Good Manufacturing Practices(GMP) is required.
• Proven track record of launching a vast array of new products, from alternative protein sources to baby food to functional beverages, and beyond.
• Experience managing or leading small teams.
• Excellent interpersonal and team communication skills for working with internal and external teams.
• Ability to manage project workload to balance changing priorities and drive key projects to completion.
• Self-starter, who takes initiative and embodies critical attention to detail, project timelines and documentation
• Strong interest in staying up-to-date about new technologies, ingredients, processes and trends.
• Passion for food, innovation and making an impact through the work we do for our clients. 
• Ability to travel to production runs or client meetings up to 15%.

Bonus if you have:

• Majority of experience in the Natural category
• Beyond basic knowledge of Google office (Drive, Docs, Sheets)