Senior Food Technologist (Dry Applications)

BUILT ON FLAVOR. FUELED BY PEOPLE. What’s it like to work at Kinder’s? Well, there’s a lot of snacking and geeking out over what we all cooked over the weekend. Beyond that, there’s also plenty of hard work. Because we don’t just like flavor, we’re obsessed with it. With over 100 products sold nationwide, we’re now a top-five brand in multiple flavor categories at Costco, Walmart, Whole Foods, and more. We’re not your typical CPG company. Privately held and founder-led, we like to think of ourselves as a pirate ship in a sea of cruise ships . Our crew is adventurous and fearless. We chart our own course and chase big ideas to make food unforgettable. As we expand globally and approach $1 billion in revenue, we need more smart-and-scrappy, flavor-obsessed people to come aboard. If you’re looking for a place where you can see the real impact of your work... this is it! Every day, you’ll be part of a journey to add flavor to millions of meals and lives. How You'll Have an Impact at Kinder’s: The Senior Food Technologist provides technical support for all product development activities for dry applications projects from exploratory/concept through commercialization. Emphasis on bench-top formulation and scale up for innovation, migration, and renovation projects, including product cuttings, plant trials, and appropriate documentation. Key Responsibilities: With guidance, design and execute product development innovation, renovation, cost optimization and quality initiatives. Follow-through on product refinements based on PD, Marketing, and Customer feedback. Leverage vendor capabilities and co-packers to expand formulation possibilities, new ingredients, product technologies and to increase speed to market. In conjunction with Culinary Team, manage internal cuttings providing guidance on product development. Optimize product formulations based on consumer feedback, ingredient opportunities, nutritional guidelines, and cost constraints. Support new product launches including plant trials and initial production runs at contract manufacturers. Confirm specifications are met for product. With process engineer, confirm specs are met for package, and process. Coordinate logistics for plant trial unique raw materials and sample delivery/acquisition. Design and conduct shelf-life stability testing for new products. What You Bring to the Table Skills and Experience BS Degree in Food Science, Chemical Engineering, or a similar discipline 3-5 years food industry experience. Knowledge of food manufacturing, formulation and ingredient functionality for sauces. Working knowledge of food safety and microbiology. Familiarity with packaging technology to evaluate adequacy of packaging. Working knowledge of food labeling regulations. Familiarity with sensory evaluation procedures. Excellent time management skills, sense of urgency, and desire to complete all assignments on a timely basis. Must be able to travel up to 30% of the time. Personal Characteristics Growth mindset with an excitement to learn (and teach). Passionate people-lover excited by the opportunity to build strong relationships with teammates and consumers. Low ego with a strong sense of humility. Thrive in a dynamic, lean, and agile environment. Collaborative mindset with an ability to find creative solutions. Self-starter who takes initiative and is willing to speak their mind. Excited to be part of a fast-moving team with the ability to be a leader and a follower where required. Enjoy making decisions and finding ways to say ‘yes’ as often as possible to impactful and important priorities. Location & Pay Transparency This position will be based onsite in Walnut Creek, CA. Travel will be required up to 30%. The expected starting salary range for this role is $115,000–$125,000 per year. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range based on the location of the role. The amount a particular employee will earn within the salary range will be based on factors such as releva…