Food Technologist Specialist III

Job Purpose and Impact

The Product and Process Development (PPD) Sweetness team, which is a part of the Research and Development organization of Cargill Starches, Sweeteners & Texturizers (CSST) Europe, translates customer needs into innovative products and solutions in the space of sweeteners, bulking agents and sweetness concepts.
The Process and Product Specialist Sweetness will define and execute research and development projects.
In this role, you will be responsible for ideation, building business cases and project proposals.
You will communicate the conclusions and follow up actions with relevant departments to ensure strong stakeholder management.
Further, the Process and Product Specialist Sweetness also acts as technical lead and/or project manager for Center of Expertise Sweetness projects and as technical lead or technical contributor in cross-functional project teams.

Key Accountabilities

• Lead complex innovation and cost improvement projects, contributing to the innovation pipeline and portfolio with ideas for the conversion of scientific research and growth of distinctive product and process offerings.
• Manage process improvement and novel ingredients discovery and ensure appropriate resource allocation and communicate project results, recommending actionable next steps to internal and external stakeholders. .
• Conduct research and complex experiments at lab, pilot and industrial scale and analyze results and provide oversight for interpretation of completed trial results and determine next steps.
• Collaborates with colleagues from the PPD teams in Vilvoorde and Krefeld and works in close collaboration with Applications, Technical Service, the Core R&D team, R&D Shared Capabilities, Engineering & Data Sciences, Manufacturing Technology, Plant Operations, Strategic Marketing, Product Line Management and Food Safety teams.
• Actively partner with intellectual asset management liaison to assist with the development of strategies, processes, and control mechanisms to ensure compliance with regulations and company policies, providing technical expertise to support this process and to secure innovation property rights.
• Support research and development innovation growth by partnering with businesses and with technology partners such as universities, research and development organizations and industry forums; to identify emerging trends and needs.
• Provide direction and mentor junior team members as appropriate.
• Independently handle complex issues with minimal supervision, while escalating only the most complex issues to appropriate staff.
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Food Science or related discipline or equivalent experience
• Minimum of four years of food/ food ingredients and/or chemical industry related work experience.
• Practical experience in the processes applied for the production of Sweetness ingredients.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree or Ph. D. in Sciences or other post-secondary degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Food Science or related discipline or equivalent experience
• Minimum of eight years of experience in R&D and Product Development in the industry
• Experience in product and process technology
• Experience with the processes to produce glucose syrups, dextroses, polyols or other sweeteners
• Expertise with several of the main technologies used in these processes: enzyme technology, purification (active carbon treatment, ion exchange and different filtration technologies), evaporation, crystallization, drying, chromatographic separation, hydrogenation, etc.
• Project Management
• Experience with cross-functional teams.
• Previous experience / responsibilities at regional / global level in an international company.