Senior Food Scientist - Cheese Product Development & Food Design

About Ingredion:

Join Ingredion, where innovation impacts lives worldwide! Without even realizing it, you’ve experienced our work in your favorite chocolate, your pet’s food, the paper you write on, and your everyday snacks. As a global powerhouse across more than 60 industries, we harness the potential of natural ingredients to transform lives. Whether you’re just starting your career or bringing years of experience, there's a place for you here to make a real difference. Be part of our team that values a wide range of perspectives and is committed to shaping a better world with every product we create.

Location: Bridgewater, NJ;

Workplace type: Hybrid (4 days onsite/ 1 day from home)

Ingredion is seeking a passionate and innovative Senior Food Scientist, Cheese Product Development & Food Design to join our Global Dairy and Alternative Dairy Applications team. In this role, you will lead and execute innovation projects focused on cheese making. This position requires a hands-on approach to food design, a strong foundation in food science, and technical curiosity. You’ll apply your expertise across the full product development lifecycle, from ideation to commercialization, in a collaborative, cross-functional environment.  

This role reports to the  Manager – Global Dairy and Alternative Dairy Applications

What You’ll Do:

• Lead product development initiatives in the cheese category by partnering with cross-functional teams, including Marketing, Region Technical Services, and customers to identify and deliver differentiated product solutions.
• Translate voice of customer and key customer value propositions from regional teams to technical solutions that make our customer’s breakthroughs possible.
• Formulate and optimize dairy and alternative dairy cheese in laboratory and pilot settings, overcoming technical challenges and ensuring commercial feasibility.
• Design and conduct experiments, analyze data, and apply advanced expertise to optimize protein, fat, and carbohydrate interactions for consumer liking and process efficiency. Identify and evaluate novel ingredients or enzymes that could enhance cheese properties or improve yields.
• Serve as the subject matter expert in cheese applications, providing guidance and innovative solutions to complex technical challenges and supporting commercialization efforts.
• Evaluate new ingredients, formulation structures, and technologies to enhance performance and functionality that drives consumer liking.
• Manage Applications project timelines and deliverables, and clearly communicate progress, findings and recommendations to stakeholders.  
• Coordinate sensory and consumer testing activities, manage sample production, and monitor product quality and organoleptic attributes throughout shelf life through analytical measurements (e.g. pH, viscosity, brix, solids, etc.) and routine tasting sessions. Collaborate with Sensory, Rheology and Texture teams for in-depth product evaluations.  
• Support scale-up and industrialization in partnership with global and/or regional teams, or directly with customers as needed.
• Maintain accurate and detailed technical and experimental documentation and ensure compliance with nutrition, regulatory, and food labeling standards.
• Stay informed on industry trends and participate in relevant associations and conferences. Collaborate with dairy research centers and leverage insights from academia to ensure innovations translate into production.
• Deliver impactful internal and external presentations, trainings and technical documentation to demonstrate Ingredion’s innovation capabilities.
• Collaborate widely and actively with Ingredion’s Dairy/Alt. Dairy Application community to share knowledge, best practices, and technical insights.
• Drive intellectual property development, contributing to patents that secure a competitive edge.

What you’ll bring:

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Dairy Science, Engineering or related field with at least 8-10 years of progressive experience.
• Proven knowledge of dairy proteins and cheese-making technologies, with hands-on experience in developing and commercializing products..
• Ability to translate dairy science and scientific research into scalable manufacturing solutions, commercially viable applications, and customer-focused innovation.
• Experience with cheese formulation, product development, and manufacturing applications in traditional dairy cheese. Experience with alternative dairy cheese products and processes is also desirable.
• Expertise in experimental design, process development, troubleshooting and technical data analysis.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including technical reporting and impactful presentations.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across functions and influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Willingness to travel up to 20% for customer visits, facility trials and conferences.

Who You Are:

• A creative problem solver with strong scientific rigor and a passion for food innovation in the cheese space. You must be willing to play a part in developing new effective cheese technologies.
• A collaborative team player with proven industry experience, including exposure to pilot and plant manufacturing environments, and capable of scaling up products while troubleshooting processing challenges.
• A clear communicator committed to commercial excellence, with the ability to translate technical findings into business impact.
• Curious, proactive and eager to stay at the forefront of industry trends and emerging technologies.

Why Join Ingredion? 

Discover why Ingredion is the ideal place to advance your career with our exceptional rewards and benefits package designed to help you thrive. Create the future with us and enjoy:

• Total Rewards Package – Competitive salary and performance-based pay recognizing your contributions to our success
• Comprehensive Benefits & Wellness Support – Health, long-term savings, and resources for your physical, mental, and emotional well-being
• Career Growth – Learning, training, and development opportunities, including tuition reimbursement
• Employee Recognition Program – A culture of real-time appreciation, with personalized recognition rewards globally
• Employee Discount Program – Provides exclusive discounts on everyday products, services, and travel

#LI-MU1

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. Ingredion seeks to provide a work environment that is free from harassment and discrimination. We will not tolerate any form of discrimination based on race, color, religion, age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, handicap or disability—mental or physical—marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability resulting from military service, or any other classification protected by law (“protected classifications”). We are committed to establishing and maintaining a work environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

Ingredion provides accommodations to job applicants with disabilities throughout the hiring process. If a job applicant requires an accommodation during the application process or through the selection process, we will work with the applicant to meet the job applicant's accommodation needs.

Ingredion uses AI-enabled tools to support parts of the recruitment process, including resume screening and interview scheduling. These tools help match candidate skills to job requirements and streamline communication. All AI-assisted decisions are reviewed by our Talent Acquisition team to ensure fairness and compliance with applicable laws. By applying, you acknowledge that AI may be used to support your application journey.

Relocation Available:

Yes, Within Country

Pay Range:

$102,100.00-$136,166.67 Annual

This pay range is not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Final base salary will be determined based on several factors which may include but are not limited to responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data and applicable bargaining agreement (if any).

Incentive Compensation:

As a part of the total compensation package, this role may be eligible for the Ingredion Annual Incentive Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus.

Benefits:

Full-time roles are eligible for our comprehensive benefits package which includes medical, dental and vision coverage as well as a 401(k) plan with an competitive company match.