R&D Food Scientist

Chicago, IL

Posted: 09/02/2026 Industry: Laboratory - Food & Beverage Job Number: 08.29.26KO Pay Rate: 60,000 - 80,000 Remote Friendly: On-Site Experience:

Job Description

R&D Food Scientist

The R&D Scientist will spend most of their time at the bench creating dry seasoning blends for meats, salty snacks, sauces, dressings, etc. and shipping them to potential customers.  Additionally, the person in this position will draw upon their creative background and experience carrying out seasoning development and prepare and give food demonstrations to customers using their seasonings.  They will also be encouraged to keep abreast of emerging trends in the food industry.

Key Accountabilities

  • Develop dry seasoning blends at the benchtop for industrial customers.
  • Prepare food dishes for showing dry seasoning blends or for illustrating culinary targets.
  • Create and give presentations to customers.
  • Find new raw materials and suppliers that will set their blends apart.
  • Other duties as assigned.

Key Day-to-Day Interactions

  • Collaborate with other product developers in the lab.
  • Work with Sales to plan and execute presentations to customers and to define seasoning development projects.
  • Provide information needed to Supply Chain for costing of blends.
  • Provide information needed to Regulatory Affairs for labeling and documentation of blends.
  • Provide Operations and QA with documentation and information for scale ups of blends.

Salary

$60,000 - $80,000

Benefits Available

Qualifications

  • The right candidate will be someone who is a strong product developer at the bench who likes the “sensory” aspect of the jo b: i.e., tasting, smelling, etc.
  • They are a “solution” based company and formulates everything to customer specifications so they must be able to come up with creative solutions for their customers, sometimes from scratch with no specs from the customer.
  • Someone who likes interacting with customers to advise on projects, etc.
  • Someone who is not looking to climb a career ladder but rather will be content being part of a very small company / R&D team where they will have a great deal of autonomy and creative outlet; there just isn’t room for growth as far as title, etc.
  • There are a total of 3 in R&D (including this headcount), a head of Quality and Regulatory, Head of Operations, a small sales team (and brokers) and approximately 20 on the production floor.

**If you’d like to hear more about this opportunity and others we are currently working on, please contact Kristine O’Sullivan at kosullivan@cps4jobs.com.

JO:  08.29.26KO
#LI-KM2

Meet Your Recruiter

Kristine O'Sullivan
Sr. Partner

The Food and Beverage Division specializes in the placement of technical professionals in the food and beverage industry from entry level to executive level candidates. I have a talented group of recruiters who specifically source Technical Sales Professionals, Scientists, Regulatory Affairs, Scientific Affairs, Executive Technical professionals, Quality Assurance, Product Development, Technical Service, Nutrition, Analytical and Corporate Chefs. We work on both a contingent basis for professional level searches and retained search for executive level searches. CPS, Inc. has been in the talent recruitment business for 40+ years and we recruit nationwide.

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