Principal Scientist I (Bakery Applications)

Location: New Century, Kansas, USA; on-site 5 days per week with approximately 20%–40% travel depending on business needs.

Salary: $160,000–$175,000 annual base salary, depending on experience, relevance, and other hiring factors.

Company

hirify.global develops flavors, fragrances, food ingredients, and health and biosciences solutions, with this role supporting its Food Ingredients business unit.

What you will do

• Lead innovative bakery application development using enzyme systems, hydrocolloids, emulsifiers, proteins, texturants, and inclusions.
• Develop customer-driven and market-driven bakery solutions from bench-top development through pilot plant and commercial-scale production.
• Work with Operations to optimize formulations, processes, and manufacturing performance for new and existing products.
• Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Product Line Management, and Business Development to support growth, profitability, customer solutions, and commercialization.
• Create concepts, applications, prototypes, demonstrations, technical reports, and project documentation for customers and internal stakeholders.
• Provide technical expertise, presentations, demonstrations, and training while supporting safety, quality, industry trend analysis, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Bakery Science, or a related discipline.
• At least 10 years of experience in R&D, Product Development, Technical Service, or Applications Development within the bakery industry.
• Strong technical expertise in bakery systems, ingredient functionality, and product development.
• Experience scaling products from laboratory development through commercial manufacturing.
• Strong teamwork, communication, and interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate technical information effectively to all organizational levels and external stakeholders.
• Ability to work successfully in laboratory, pilot plant, and manufacturing environments.

Nice to have

• Master’s degree in Food Science or a related discipline.
• Customer-facing applications, technical service, or commercial experience.
• Experience working cross-functionally with commercial and operations teams.
• Strong understanding of emerging bakery trends and ingredient innovation.

Culture & Benefits

• Competitive compensation, annual incentive opportunities, and an annual bonus plan.
• Medical, dental, vision, 401(k), vacation, holidays, and 16 weeks of paid parental leave.
• Inclusive workplace focused on diversity, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Opportunities to contribute to food ingredient solutions, sustainability, and global cross-functional initiatives.
• The Food Ingredients business unit is expected to transition from hirify.global to CVC Capital Partners after a planned sale, pending regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.