Raw Materials/Ingredients Scientist

Job description

A mutually rewarding experience.

Work. Realize your ambitions. And realize there's more to being in business than just making a profit. That's the Mars philosophy. And the opportunity we offer every one of our Associates. An opportunity to take what you do and make it mean more for you, for those around you and for the planet. What you get here is challenging, interesting work. You get the tools you need to do a great job and you get to have the best possible people on your side to help you do it. And at the same time as getting to find ways to do business better today than we did it yesterday and driving a great career, you also get to build a more enlightened business and drive sustainability.

Because it's never just about a single person, a single project or a single brand. It's about how you can grab everything that's within your reach here and use it to pursue mutual, long-term gain. It's about having ideas. And ideals. Being prepared to risk failure because the promise of success means we'll all be a little better off. It's that mix of integrity and ambition that makes Mars such a special place to work. And why working here is always about more than just a job.

About Mars, Incorporated

Mars is a family-owned business with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love. With almost $35 billion in sales, the company is a global business that produces some of the world's best-loved brands: M&M's®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, MILKY WAY®, DOVE®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, WHISKAS®, EXTRA®, ORBIT®, 5™, SKITTLES®, UNCLE BEN'S®, MARS DRINKS and COCOAVIA®. Mars also provides veterinary health services that include BANFIELD® Pet Hospitals, Blue Pearl®, VCA® and Pet Partners™. Headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars operates in more than 80 countries. The Mars Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom – inspire its more than 100,000 Associates to create value for all its partners and deliver growth they are proud of every day.

Raw Materials Development Scientist - Petcare

Job Purpose/Overview:

The Raw Materials Development Expert is part of our Petcare Organization where pets are our priority. This role is responsible for the technical leadership and expertise in one or more of the following areas: animal proteins, carbohydrates/fats/oils, and/or micro ingredients. The Raw Material Expert is responsible for ensuring new & existing raw materials are properly assessed regarding any risks to animal well-being and serves as an R&D resources for their specific area of expertise. The expert is responsible for working with Product Developers and Suppliers to help identify new raw materials that are critical to delivering a specified product design.

Key Responsibilities:

·  Responsible for assessing and managing the raw material portfolio to ensure compliance with Material Quality Management (MQM) standard
·  Assessing raw material for known hazards and ensuring there are controls implemented to minimize the risk of those hazards
·  Collaborating with industry suppliers to identify raw materials that can meet the ever changing needs for product design
·  Responsible for designing and implementing raw material testing plans
·  Responsible for drafting raw material specifications
·  Utilize understanding and knowledge linked to the raw material portfolio across all relevant applications and be key technical point of contact within business
·  Leverage their knowledge of raw materials to help set strategy and identify ways to enhance product key product attributes and potential savings
·  Ensure implementation alignment with relevant stakeholders within the R&D function
·  Support in alignment and management of stakeholders external to R&D
·  Influences and/or develops technical strategies and best practices

The role is part of the regional R&D team and is key in helping the business deliver products at the right quality whilst still achieving efficiency targets. The role is designed to evaluate whether new raw materials can be utilized across a large scale product portfolio and ensure the safety of the raw material for the intended purpose.

The raw material management part of Material Development is providing Mars with the required level of raw material understanding to formulate consistent high quality products. This will require close work and collaboration with vendor assurance and commercial to ensure suppliers deliver fit for purpose raw materials as defined by Mars. Understanding the raw material can be anything such as nutrition, functionality, quality and microbiology. As knowledge of the raw material portfolio deepens improved collaboration with relevant interfaces will identify opportunities (quality improvement, harmonization and new materials). The backbone upon which all this can be achieved is a solid understanding of Mars Material Quality Management, with ideas for continuous improvement of this shared when seen. Given their deep understanding of the raw materials they are the key contact (both internally and externally) for technical questions and troubleshooting linked to the portfolio.

The project side of the role is about exploiting identified opportunities for quality improvement and/or cost saving through new raw material development or formulation techniques. Normally these ideas come from business strategies or tactical needs forced by raw material market changes. The person holding this role must evaluate the size of the opportunity across all factories and portfolios whilst ensuring pet, consumer, business and legal needs are met. This is done through planning, conducting and analyzing trials and gathering solid information from relevant functions/experts (e.g. supply for factory impact, regulatory affairs for legal implications, commercial for raw material market trends). For this reason it is important they have a good professional network and interpersonal skills to manage this. In some projects, complexity dependent, supervision can be sort from senior team members or their manager.

Due to the above responsibilities, the role is key in ensuring Mars delivers products of consistent quality and at a competitive cost.

Job Specifications/Qualifications:

Education/Experience:

Minimum Bachelor's degree (Preferred Masters or PhD) in Science, Food Science, Food Technologist (or similar)

5+ years (Preferred 10+) of R&D experience with established technical raw material expertise

Strong Understanding of the raw material supply chain within the industry

Functional/Technical Skills:

Practices Excellence in Quality

Risk and Opportunity Identification

Risk and Opportunity Management

Product Quality Custodian

Drives Efficiency

Design for Quality and Efficiency

Mars is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the application process because of a disability, it is available upon request. The company is pleased to provide such assistance, and no applicant will be penalized as a result of such a request.

Nearest Major Market: Nashville
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