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Mondelez International

Makes cookies, chocolate, gum and candy worldwide

Associate Principal Scientist - Microbiologist

Biology & BiotechConfirmed live in the last 24 hours
Full-timeNo salary listedIn-person

About the Job

Requirements

  • A PhD in food microbiology, an MSc in Food Safety and Control, and a BSc in Life Sciences or Food Technology are stated as educational qualifications.
  • Experience in ISO 17025 laboratory management or equivalent accreditation bodies is required.
  • Experience as a laboratory assessor for microbiology laboratory audits is required.
  • Familiarity with ISO microbiology methods, including pathogen testing such as Salmonella, is required.
  • Familiarity with food-industry processing and pathogen and spoilage risk management is required.
  • Influence and coaching skills are required to work with departments such as R&D, Quality Assurance, Marketing, Procurement, and Supplier Quality on innovation projects and Quality by Design approaches, including formula design, predictor models, spoilage/pathogen challenge-testing protocols, and interpretation of results.
  • Strong communication skills are required to work with Regional and Global Microbiology Subject Matter Experts during early-warning and special situations in support of Regional Business Unit Group Leaders.
  • Familiarity with European Union regulation and legislation is required.
  • Knowledge of polymerase chain reaction is required.
  • Ability to audit laboratories is required.
  • Knowledge of thermal process validation is required.
  • Ability to design and interpret challenge tests is required.
  • Knowledge of innovation and experimental evidence is required.
  • Scientific leadership and communication capabilities are required.
  • Capability-building skills are required.

Responsibilities

  • Act as the scientific authority for food microbiology across the MEU region and own execution of the global scientific strategy, technical frameworks, and decision models for the microbiology laboratory network, microbiological Food Safety risk assessment, thermal process validation, and innovation and Test & Learn microbiological risk management.
  • Translate emerging science, external expertise, and internal learnings into practical standards, tools, and learning experiences that strengthen microbiological risk management, enable safe business experimentation, and prevent recurrence.
  • Assess pathogen presence, survival, growth, and inactivation considering product formulation, water activity, pH, process, packaging, temperature, storage, shelf life, and other intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
  • Characterize hazards and their severity based on pathogen characteristics, health consequences, susceptible populations, and relevant scientific evidence.
  • Lead and document risk assessments for Food Safety Special Situations, providing the scientific basis for product disposition and risk-management decisions.
  • Ensure risk-assessment decisions are consistent across sites and business units.
  • Translate complex microbiological science into concise recommendations that Operations and business leaders can understand and act upon.
  • Map and prioritize thermal-validation needs across sites, categories, and technologies based on regional risk and business priorities.
  • Design thermal-validation studies, including required lethality, target or surrogate organisms, worst-case conditions, and critical process parameters, and deploy studies in compliance with Mondelēz models.
  • Support manufacturing sites in carrying out practical thermal process validation studies and interpreting results; define requirements for temperature measurement, data acquisition, sensor positioning, calibration, and data quality.
  • Identify technologies that improve the accuracy, reproducibility, and efficiency of validation studies and build measurement capability within manufacturing sites.
  • Provide scientific oversight of validation studies; review and approve protocols, data, and reports; conduct or support on-site validation where complexity or risk requires it; and resolve technical deviations or unexpected results.
  • Ensure validated conditions are translated into manufacturing controls and verification requirements, maintaining consistency across plants, categories, and technologies.
  • Train Food Safety and Science members on validation principles, critical process parameters, and data interpretation.
  • Deploy and maintain the laboratory network strategy, including laboratory mapping, primary and backup laboratories, and contingency plans based on business needs and risk.
  • Anticipate laboratory-network vulnerabilities in capacity, capability, method availability, performance, and business continuity, and establish proactive mitigation plans.
  • Approve and re-approve laboratories, including strategic backups.
  • Drive analytical-method optimization and innovation, identify faster and more effective methodologies, and influence laboratories to implement them.
  • Deploy new technology methods that support business needs through accurate and sensitive results, faster turnaround, and more accurate confirmation, while protecting consumers and customers.
  • Lead technical escalation and corrective-action expectations when laboratory performance does not meet required standards.
  • Engage early in innovation and novel projects to identify microbiological hazards associated with ingredients, formulation, process, technology, packaging, and intended use; define Food Safety requirements, identify constraints early enough to influence design, determine when additional studies or validation are required, and partner with R&D, Process Engineering, Quality, and Operations to incorporate Food Safety by Design.
  • Perform rapid risk assessments when standard requirements or complete evidence are unavailable; identify what is known and unknown, key assumptions, and uncertainties; assess hazards for the specific ingredient, product, process, technology, and intended-use combination; define proportionate interim mitigation measures and clear boundaries and stop criteria; and document the scientific rationale.
  • Define controls proportionate to scale, consumer exposure, distribution, duration, and hazard.
  • Design challenge tests for food pathogens and spoilage, lead the work, and interpret the results.
  • Maintain an active network of external experts, laboratories, scientific organizations, and industry networks.
  • Design and deliver masterclasses, workshops, and technical forums, adapting depth to audience maturity.
  • Convert significant incidents into organizational learning and use recurring patterns to identify systemic gaps.
  • Participate in microbiology Communities of Practice and expert networks.

About the Company

Mondelez International

Makes cookies, chocolate, gum and candy worldwide

Mondelez International makes snack foods sold in grocery stores, convenience shops and online from North America and Europe to Latin America, Asia and Africa. Its brands include Oreo and Chips Ahoy cookies, Cadbury, Milka and Toblerone chocolate, Trident gum and Halls cough drops. The company runs factories around the world, buys large amounts of cocoa and wheat, and ships finished snacks to retailers and distributors. It earns money by selling these branded snacks at wholesale, and it grows by adding local brands and buying regional bakeries and snack makers. Mondelez took its current name in 2012, when Kraft Foods split off its North American grocery business, and is based in Chicago.

Company size
10,001+
Company stage
IPO
Headquarters
Chicago, IL
Founded
1903

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