R&D Product Development Associate Principal Scientist

Overview

Location:

Plano, Texas

At Pepsi Co, you’ll discover a place where our mission is to create smiles around the world. With a portfolio of more than 500 beloved brands including Gatorade, Lay’s and Quaker, our work touches millions of people every day. The R&D AFH (Away From Home) team collaborates to turn ideas into action, guided by consumer centricity and a focus on meaningful work and impact in the communities we serve.

The R&D Associate Principal Scientist, Away From Home is responsible for the execution of product development projects in the center of plate, frozen, refrigerated and ambient foods space. This role requires analytical skills, project management capabilities, and the ability to establish cross-functional relationships, internally and externally. The Associate Principal Scientist collaborates with external supplier partners to facilitate product design, process design and scale up of multiple innovation projects in an evolving, high growth area of Pepsi Co Foods.

Critical thinking, problem solving, triaging with multiple stakeholders and leadership are all necessary skills for success. This role is expected to act as the key R&D project stakeholder with business partners, R&D functions and external partners to forge new paths of development and business for the immediate and multi-year away-from-home portfolio.

• Lead the development and launch of refrigerated, frozen and shelf-stable meals, including meat proteins, handhelds, side dishes, dips and other high moisture foods; drive innovation through development of flavors and formulations with consideration of process technologies and packaging interaction.
• Work closely with third-party supplier partners to design optimal products in accordance with Pepsi Co innovation, market and sales demand, and customer/consumer input. Provide leadership and project management for development of products utilizing the capabilities of other companies.
• Collaborate with culinary partners (supplier and Pepsi Co) to keep culinary at the forefront of new product designs and drive innovative food product solutions that meet consumer-centric needs; augment product designs using culinary skills.
• Explore new ingredients, substrates, and processes leveraging internal and external resources.
• Work with Supply Chain to evaluate, qualify, and commercialize platform capacity; collaborate with R&D process engineering to develop process design for desired product output.
• Design and execute experiments; analyze data and provide sound technical recommendations; communicate impact to the business.
• Coordinate production at bench top, pilot plant, and manufacturing levels for shelf life, stability, sales samples, scale-up, and other needs.
• Engage with internal and contract Manufacturing & Ingredient Suppliers.
• Develop and maintain relationships across R&D and non-R&D functions including Supply Chain, FSQA, Regulatory, Innovation, Sales and Legal; represent R&D AFH PD across all work streams.
• Provide trial and commercialization support to products at co-manufacturing facilities.
• Input, review, and finalize ingredient, product formula and design specifications.
• Participate in Marketing/Consumer Research including focus groups and consumer research.
• Perform basic economic evaluations on ingredients, suppliers, and formulations.
• Influence others through strong communication and interpersonal skills.

• The expected compensation range for this position is between $89,000 – $149,000.
• Location, confirmed job-related skills, experience, and education will be considered in setting actual starting salary. The recruiter can share more about the specific salary range during the hiring process.
• Bonus based on performance; target payout is 10% of annual salary paid out annually.
• Paid time off subject to eligibility, including parental leave, vacation, sick, and bereavement.
• Comprehensive benefits package including Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, Health and Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts, EAP, Insurance, and 401(k) Defined Contribution Plan.

• B.S./M.S./Ph.D degree in Food Science or related field required.
• 5+ years (B.S.), 3-4+…