Senior Baking Scientist

The Senior Baking Scientist is a culinary and technical leader responsible for developing baked goods on a commercial scale. This role combines hands-on bakery expertise with food science applications and manufacturing knowledge to bring innovative products from concept through full production.

Working closely with Production, Quality, Operations, and external partners, this role ensures that products are scalable, repeatable, food safe, and commercially viable—without compromising taste, texture, or brand standards. This position does not manage daily production lines but serves as the technical authority during product development, scaleup, and commercialization. This is an onsite position based in Miamisburg, OH.

Role and Responsibilities

Product Innovation & Culinary Development

Lead hands on development of commercial bakery products such as brownies, bars, cookies, fillings, and icings.

Create and refine formulations that balance sensory excellence (taste, texture and shelf life) with manufacturability and cost targets.

Develop rapid prototypes for internal reviews, marketing studies, customer presentations, and consumer testing.

Collaborate with cross-functional partners and external chefs or vendors to drive innovation aligned with market and brand strategies.

Establish standard mixing methods, baking parameters and handling requirements.

Commercialization & Scaleup

Own the technical execution of bakery products during scaleup from benchtop and rack test batches to full commercial production.

Partner with Production and Food Safety/Quality to validate equipment capability, batch sizing, bake profiles, quality attributes and process parameters.

Lead and support plant trials, first productions, and postlaunch optimization.

Identify technical and operational risks during commercialization and proactively adjust formulas or processes.

Manufacturing, Quality & Food Safety

Develop and maintain specifications for raw materials, process controls, and finished baked goods.

Ensure products meet quality, food safety, shelf life, and regulatory requirements (FDA, USDA, Kosher, and customer specific standards).

Coordinate third-party lab testing and validation for food safety and shelf stability.

Partner with technical teams to ensure compliant labeling and documentation.

Documentation & Knowledge Transfer

Create and maintain accurate formulas, process instructions, and commercialization documentation.

Deliver complete product trial details to ensure seamless handoff to manufacturing teams.

Train and support Production teams during commercialization to ensure consistent execution.

Project Leadership & Collaboration

Manage multiple innovation and commercialization projects simultaneously in a fast paced commercial bakery environment.

Contribute technical insight to innovation pipeline planning and prioritization.

Communicate progress, risks, and outcomes clearly to cross functional stakeholders.

Required

Requirements and Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Culinary Arts (Baking/Pastry Specialization), or equivalent experience working in a commercial bakery is required.

Proven experience developing and commercializing baked goods in a commercial or industrial bakery setting.

Strong understanding of bakery manufacturing processes, scaleup challenges, and food safety standards.

Demonstrated ability to translate benchtop recipes into scalable, repeatable commercial formulas.

Strong understanding of dough systems and functional ingredients related to commercial baking.

Ability to travel up to 10%

Preferred

5+ years of bakery R&D experience, including hands-on product development and commercialization in a commercial or industrial bakery environment.

Experience supporting largescale bakery product launches.

Familiarity with regulatory labeling and third-party food safety testing.

Experience with different packaging methods and extending product shelf life.

Benefits:

Affordable quality healthcare coverage

Employer-paid vision coverage

Dental coverage

Employer-paid life insurance (with the option to purchase additional coverage)

Paid time off