Scientist/Senior Scientist, Product Development
Davis, CA, Full-time, on-site
Role Description
You will be a core member of the Product Development team, responsible for translating our sweet protein platform into winning formulations across product categories. This role exists because sugar reduction can be challenging, and you know that firsthand from years of working with high intensity sweeteners in real food systems. You will apply that expertise, learn our sweet protein technology, and help customers understand not just what sweet proteins are, but how to use them effectively, often in combination with other natural sweeteners & HIS systems. You will work closely with the commercial team to turn formulation wins into purchase orders.
Key Responsibilities:
Formulation and Application Science
- Apply our sweet protein platform in dairy matrices including yogurts, flavored milks, milk-based RTDs, creamers, and protein-fortified formats, evaluating sweetness quality, temporal profile, sensory characteristics, and stability.
- Design and prepare sugar reduced product formulations with our sweet protein technology, leveraging your background with high intensity sweeteners and other sugar alternatives to replicate the taste profile of full-sugar products.
- Develop solution pre-sets and application guides for target applications: documented formulation and processing guidance that enables our customers to meet their formulation objectives quickly, reducing time to convert sales leads to purchase orders.
- Work independently or closely with other team members to design and perform formulation experiments, sensory evaluations, and analytical testing to systematically improve product performance.
- Develop formulation toolkits to support additional application categories as they are prioritized; e.g. sports and nutrition, carbonated beverages, etc.
- Translate formulation results into clear recommendations with practical paths to scale, and support translation of successful prototypes to pilot and commercial production.
Customer and Technical Engagement
- Work closely with sales team and directly with customers and prospects to understand formulation challenges, propose solutions, and guide trials from initial concept through to successful prototypes and purchase orders.
- Serve as a credible technical voice in customer conversations, able to explain our platform clearly, address formulation objections, and build confidence in our ingredient platform.
- Collaborate with the commercial team to identify where formulation challenges are slowing sales, and design experiments or application guides that unblock conversion.
- Develop pricing and cost-in-use analyses that support customer decision-making.
- Help build application materials, case studies, and data packages that support sales at scale.
- Develop and maintain batch records, manufacturing specs, and processing parameters relevant to sweet protein handling.
Qualifications
- 10+ years of hands-on formulation experience in an industry setting.
- Degree in Food Science, Food Chemistry, Dairy Science, Nutrition Science, Biochemistry, or related field (B.S. minimum; M.S. or Ph.D. preferred).
- Deep working knowledge of high intensity sweeteners (e.g. Reb A, Reb M, mogrosides, and artificial HIS like aspartame and sucralose) in food or beverage applications.
- Demonstrated experience with sugar reduction and replacement strategies, including the use of Flavors with Modifying Properties and functional build-back ingredients to replicate sugar-like taste and properties in low- and no-sugar products.
- Direct category experience in dairy, including yogurt, dairy beverages, or protein-fortified dairy formats.
- Proven ability to engage with customers or external partners in a technical capacity. Comfortable presenting data, evaluating cost-in-use, explaining formulation trade-offs, and influencing decisions.
- Track record of moving projects forward: from concept to prototype, prototype to customer trial, trial to commercial sale.
Preferred Attributes
- Background at a formulation house, flavor house, or ingredient supplier. Experience solving the same problem across multiple customers and categories is a significant differentiator over pure CPG brand-side experience.
- Category experience in sports and functional nutrition, including protein powders, RTD beverages, bars, or meal replacements.
- Experience with sensory optimization in complex matrices.
- Prior exposure to sweet proteins (brazzein, thaumatin, monellin) or other biotech-derived or precision fermentation-produced ingredients - not required, but valued.
- Entrepreneurial and hands-on, comfortable in a startup environment where you build the process as you go.
- Ability to think commercially, you understand the connection between a good formulation and a closed deal.
Salary Range: $90,000-$150,000 per year
We are proud to offer the following benefits:
Insurance: medical with available FSA/HSA plans, dental & vision.
Paid time off: vacation, sick, holidays, parental leave, bereavement & jury duty
Bonuses: performance bonus program
Other: stock incentives, 401K, & cell phone reimbursement
