Senior Food Scientist

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Dawn Foods is a global leader in bakery manufacturing and ingredients distribution. As the partner of choice for inspiring bakery success, we help customers grow their business through meaningful partnerships, research-driven insights and innovations, and products and expertise they can depend on. As a family-owned company, our commitments to our people, products, customers, and corporate values, are all part of our recipe for success.

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Why work for Dawn Foods?

PEOPLE. PRODUCTS. CUSTOMERS.

Why should you apply? We invest in you!

• Industry-leading health insurance on Day 1!
• Competitive Pay
• 401(K) + company match
• 10 Paid Company Holidays
• Paid Time Off
• Professional training
• Family-owned business over 100 years in service
• An opportunity for career advancement, working as part of an empowering workforce

Job Purpose and Overview

The Senior Food Scientist leads product development across all stages of the product life cycle, from concept through commercialization for bakery products. Responsible for evaluating ingredients and formulation across a variety of projects, such as new products, line extensions, quality improvements, cost reductions, or pipeline innovation. Position may oversee and provide guidance for junior team members and interns.

Work Environment & Travel: This position is on-site in either Louisville, KY, or Denver, CO, and a moderate amount of travel, up to 25%, will be required to support customers and products at other sites. Special travel assignments will be available to provide career growth opportunities. Relocation assistance is available for candidates who are not local to the market.

What will you do as a Senior Food Scientist at Dawn Foods?

• With minimal supervision, develops product formulations, plans, and executes scientific experiments using established laboratory/pilot plant/operations methods.Interprets results using data/statistical analysis and translates into possible solutions.
• Investigate customer complaints, conduct root cause analysis, provide short-term solutions, and identify opportunities for improvement to develop long-term sustainable solutions.
• Leverages scientific approaches and analytical methods to accelerate learning, identify risks, and build contingency plans to advance projects.
• Executes pilot lab runs, consumer tests, plant trials, and validation trials to scale up product solutions.
• Builds strong cross-functional relationships both within the R&D community as well as externally with Marketing, Insights, Quality, Operations, Engineering, and Regulatory to collaboratively solve problems.
• Demonstrate proficiency with the Dawn specification system and write product, ingredient, and process specs. Strong documentation skills and ensures all ingredients and finished goods meet customer, internal, and FDA requirements.
• Performs other related duties as assigned or requested.
• Travel up to 25% of the time.

What Does It Take to be a Senior Food Scientist at Dawn Foods?

Below are the minimum qualifications to be a fit for this job.

• A High School Diploma or GED is required
• A Bachelor's Degree in Food Science, or a related science field, and 5 years of relevant work experience in the food industry. Will accept 9 years of relevant work experience in lieu of a bachelor's degree.
• Experience interfacing with manufacturing teams and scaling products from design through commercialization.
• Strong scientific, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate technical concepts for cross-functional teams and stakeholders.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously with strong organizational and time management skills.
• Working knowledge of food safety and regulatory standards such as GMP, HACCP, and FSMA.
• Demonstrates the "Dawn Values" of Team Dawn and Supports the Circle of Excellence.

Preferred qualifications

• A Master's degree in Food Science or a similar science-related field
• A Six Sigma Green Belt certification
• SAP and Optiva software experience
• An interest in bakery products and product development

Physical Demands & Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a Team Member to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Normal setting for this job is on-site at one of Dawn's manufacturing facilities located in either Louisville, KY, or Denver, CO. The role will be primarily in a laboratory setting, and also in the manufacturing facility.
• The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 25 pounds and frequently lift and/or move 25 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to focus.

Note:The level of physical effort may vary from site to site and in some cases be greater or lesser than documented here.

If this sounds like the opportunity that you have been looking for, please click "Apply."

About Our Benefits

Dawn is proud to employ the top talent in the baking industry, and we reward our people with comprehensive health and well-being coverage, competitive compensation packages, and award-winning benefit offerings. We also help protect your future financial health with a generous 401(k) matching program that provides additional retirement funds and many tools and resources on financial wellness. Dawn encourages professional growth through tuition assistance and educational programs, and we are always searching for ways to improve our industry-leading services and benefits.

Compensation

$78,370 - $122,260 with bonus eligibility

#LI-Onsite #LI-AH1

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An Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/gender expression, citizenship status, military or veteran status, genetic information or any other status or condition that is protected by applicable law.

Requisition ID: 37253

An Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

Date: Aug 8, 2025

If you need accommodation for any part of the employment process because of a disability, please send an email to ....