Director, Food Systems & Application Science
Though you may not know us by name, you've most likely enjoyed meals and refreshments supported by our industry-leading brand portfolio. For decades, we've designed and manufactured foodservice equipment for some of the world's biggest, most recognized consumer brands. We are driven to innovate with a clear purpose in mind: revolutionize the future of foodservice.
This role transforms subjective food quality feedback (e.g., "too dry," "compressed," "soggy") into objective, quantifiable parameters that directly inform engineering design decisions, de-risk product development, and significantly accelerate QSR approval cycles.
What You'll Do
Define Measurable Food Performance Criteria
- Establish clear, science-based definitions of food quality performance across time, temperature, and equipment conditions.
- Define moisture loss thresholds by product type and application
- Establish acceptable compression and deformation tolerance ranges
- Quantify texture degradation curves over hold time
- Map timetemperature interactions and their impact on food quality
- Standardize validation and test protocols for holding, heating, and toasting applications
Integrate with Engineering & Product Development
- Translate food performance limits into actionable engineering design constraints
- Partner with engineering teams to support design of experiments (DOE)
- Collaborate on heat distribution, airflow, and humidity control modeling
- Provide validation data and food performance evidence to support new product launches
Build & Scale Validation Lab Capability
- Establish and oversee laboratory methods including:
- Texture Profile Analysis (TPA)
- Water activity (aw) measurement
- Moisture content and loss analysis
- Internal temperature and thermal mapping
- Accelerated hold-time and shelf-life studies
- Define best practices for repeatability, data integrity, and scalability across programs
Support Commercial & Customer Engagement
- Act as a technical authority during QSR testing and validation
- Define pre-approval food performance test plans with customers
- Reduce customer approval cycle times through structured, data-backed validation
- Support root cause analysis and troubleshooting for field performance issues
Strong Foundation in:
- Heat and mass transfer
- Rheology and texture analysis
- Water activity and moisture modeling
- Food microbiology fundamentals (applied understanding)
Skills/Experience We're Looking For
- 815 years of experience in applied food systems, product applications, or food-focused R&D
- Experience working with commercial food equipment, QSR R&D teams, or foodservice technology environments
- Demonstrated ability to translate sensory or qualitative outcomes into quantitative, repeatable metrics
- Proven experience designing and executing structured experiments, including DOE
- Track record of influencing cross-functional teams (engineering, product, commercial) through data-driven insight
Required Qualifications
- MS or PhD in Food Science, Food Engineering, Thermal Processing, or a related discipline
Pay Range: 132,000.00 - 198,000.00