Scientist I - Flavor, Biotech

Job Description

It’s an exciting time to be part of IFF’s Food Biotech team. As a research scientist, you will play a pivotal role in our cutting-edge research and development of natural flavors and taste modulation ingredients in line with corporate strategies and business targets. 

We are seeking a highly motivated and creative Scientist specializing in upstream development of natural and sustainable flavor ingredients with a focus on target discovery and bio-based process development.  

This position will be located in Union Beach, New Jersey at IFF’s R&D facility. 
 

Key Responsibilities:

• Contribute to lab scale process development to implement upstream discovery of flavor and modulation ingredients through microbial fermentation and biocatalysis
• Design and conduct microbial strain screening. 
• Conduct instrumental analysis (GC-MS & HPLC) of flavor components in samples to establish an in-depth knowledge of flavor chemistry, pathways and molecular mechanisms.
• Work with flavorists, sensory and application scientists to validate new ingredients performance.
• Support scale-up process to production and assist in supply chain management and regulatory review.
• Write organized reports and present findings with team.
• Review patents and scientific articles and propose research initiatives aligned with corporate and divisional strategies.
   

Required Experience and Skills:

• MS in Biochemistry, Food Science, Microbiology, or related fields with +3 years of research experience in laboratory 
• Strong knowledge of flavor chemistry 
• Skills of microbial strain improvement and screening 

• Understanding of bioreactor principles and metabolic pathways 
• Experience in instrumental analysis (HPLC, GCMS)
• Experience in sensory evaluation (taste & smell)
• Proficiency in statistical data analysis
• Self-motivated and act like an owner with agility and teamwork
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong ability to work in a cross-functional team environment

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Industrial laboratory experience
• Understanding of fermentation scale-up and downstream process
• Experience in High throughput experimentation for strain and metabolite screening
• Experience in flavor fractionation and reconstitution that lead to target flavor profiles