Oats Overnight is changing the way people eat breakfast, and since launching in 2016, our high protein spoon-free oatmeal has been enjoyed by over 1,000,000 customers. A digitally native company since inception, we are scaling quickly in both direct-to-consumer and retail with the goal of becoming a household brand. We have end-to-end control of all phases of the business, producing and fulfilling the product in-house, which is extremely rare for companies our size. This allows us to create new flavors and products quickly and is a tremendous advantage for our brand – we’re able to give customers a behind-the-scenes look at what we do, highlighting our people and process in content. Being vertically integrated also enables us to incorporate customers directly in the development process.
Who We Are
Starting with our founder/CEO and extending to multiple teams across all departments, many of us come from non-traditional backgrounds. This is a superpower – we are not stuck in traditional industry patterns, but instead leverage extreme rationality and first principles thinking to solve problems and find new opportunities. This is a special place to work, and our team is what makes it that way; this is why every employee is also an owner. As such, there is a high level of expectation for all team members.
Role Description
We are looking for an innovative Sr. Food Scientist to provide technical expertise and to lead the development and review of formulations of current and future products. The Sr. Food Scientist will collaborate with project teams to create new products from concept to commercialization. The Sr. Food Scientist will evolve and improve nutritional quality, flavor, and texture of our current and future food products. The Sr. Food Scientist will assist the company to stay at the forefront of new developments and product innovations. Additionally, the ideal candidate will enjoy mentoring and developing jr. level staff in an open and collaborative environment.
To be successful in this role, you should be able to interpret and apply scientific methodologies to developing new, robust, great-tasting food formulations, know how to translate consumer insights into innovative product opportunities, and understand how to translate business objectives into clear project goals. Top candidates will be team players, passionate about product development, enjoy working with people, energized by accepting challenges as opportunities, and thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
What We Value
Ability to influence at varying levels across the organization
Ability to handle multiple priorities and navigate in a fast-moving environment
Individuals who are self-motivated and able to work with little supervision, who consistently take the initiative to get things done, do things before being asked by others or forced to by events.
Ability to artfully convey even subtle or complex messages clearly, as appropriate for the topic and audience
A relentless drive to get things done
A curious and entrepreneurial mindset
Working in a highly collaborative and supportive team environment
What You Will Do
Develop new products from concept through successful commercialization.
Teach best practices for managing formulations and product design in nutrition software
Provide advanced technical solutions to production issues as it relates to ingredient selection, formula development, processing procedures, and specifications to ensure continuous production of existing products while maintaining product quality and safety.
Evaluate ingredients and processing techniques to identify and commercialize product improvement and cost reduction opportunities.
Evaluate, confirm acceptability, create/update specifications and implement proposed ingredients or processes for product optimization.
Develop relevant, data driven and achievable consumer-based specifications for semi-finished and finished goods.
Document all work according to established procedures and guidelines, provide timely and effective oral and written communication and prepare various project reports to team and project leader to ensure complete communication of project status, progress, issues, solutions, timeline, and accountability.
Support innovation in the development of new ideas, new products or new product platforms through ideation sessions and bench top experimentation, along with the ability to effectively communicate the concept.
Collaborate with, mentor, and guide junior level staff with product and flavor development.
Must Have
B.Sc. in Food Science, Nutrition, Engineering or related discipline.
Minimum 7 years’ experience in food industry or related field, preferred 12+ years experience
Experience in mentoring or managing food scientists and technicians
Expert level proficiency in building complex natural flavors systems using natural bulk sweeteners and natural high intensity sweeteners (preferred powder flavor experience in RTM powder beverage applications).
Expert level experience with formulation software; Genesis is preferred
Highly acute sense of taste and smell
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Able to lead/teach food product design, formulation, ingredient functionality, process design, product scale-up, plant testing and commercialization.
Excellent understanding of food industry standards of quality and foods safety, and FDA regulations.
Total Rewards
Competitive Salary, Awesome Work Environment, Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Flexible CTO, 401k and stock options, as we strongly believe that every team member is important to our success.
Seniority level
Mid-Senior level
Employment type
Full-time
Job function
Research, Analyst, and Information Technology
Industries
Food and Beverage Services
Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Oats Overnight by 2x