(Sr.) Food Scientist

Eat Just is on a mission to build a healthier, safer, and more sustainable food system—starting with what’s on your plate. From pioneering plant-based eggs to making real meat without slaughter, we’re reimagining the future of food in ways that are better for people and the planet.

We’re a lean, passionate team of scientists, chefs, engineers, and operators who believe that doing hard things well can make a meaningful difference. We’ve brought groundbreaking innovations to market, like Just Egg and GOOD Meat, and we’re just getting started.

If you’re excited by big challenges, real impact, and the chance to shape what the future tastes like—we’d love to meet you.

Learn more about Eat Just and our products →

About Us
Eat Just is on a mission to build a healthier, safer, and more sustainable food system. Our team of scientists, chefs, and product developers created Just Egg—the fastest-growing egg brand in America, made entirely from plants—and we’re just getting started. We're seeking a Food Scientist to help us improve, expand, and scale the Just Egg product line and bring our next generation of products to life.

About the Role
We’re looking for a hands-on, solutions-oriented Food Scientist who thrives in ambiguity and is energized by complex technical challenges. Our ideal candidate can take an ill-defined problem and efficiently and creatively design a scientific approach—whether through experimental design, formulation and characterization strategy, or process development—to arrive at practical, scalable solutions.

In this role, you’ll apply a deep understanding of plant-based food systems to develop, evaluate, and optimize products across the Eat Just portfolio, from early bench-top exploration through commercialization. You’ll leverage food science principles and analytical methods to assess ingredient functionality, product performance, and process conditions, translating insights into high-quality products that perform in real-world environments.

You’ll work closely with R&D, Culinary, Manufacturing, and Marketing to ensure our products deliver on taste, functionality, consistency, and scalability—while continuing to push the boundaries of what’s possible with plant-based ingredients.

What You'll Do

• Contribute to product development and technical problem-solving across Just Egg, Just Meat, and future Eat Just products, from early concept and bench-top experimentation through commercialization and scale-up
• Design and execute hypothesis-driven experiments to evaluate ingredient functionality, processing parameters, and formulation performance across diverse product formats
• Apply food science principles to understand and optimize protein, starch, fat, and hydrocolloid interactions, including texture, stability, emulsification, water binding, and thermal behavior under varied processing conditions
• Utilize a range of analytical and product development techniques (e.g., rheology, viscometry, thermal analysis, functional performance testing) to inform formulation and process decisions
• Translate laboratory findings into scalable, manufacturing-ready formulations, partnering closely with Process Engineering, Operations, and external manufacturing partners
• Support cross-functional initiatives by collaborating with Sales and Marketing to adapt formulations for customer, channel, or application-specific needs when required
• Lead or support process and formulation optimization efforts, including troubleshooting quality, performance, or cost-in-use challenges in existing products
• Generate, maintain, and clearly communicate technical documentation, including formulations, specifications, SOPs, experimental plans, and trial reports
• Maintain rigorous formulation and experimental records, ensuring traceability from early prototypes through final commercial products
• Stay current on plant-based ingredient innovation, processing technologies, and sustainability trends to inform technical strategy and future product development

What you’ll bring

• BS or MS in Food Science, Food Engineering, or a related technical discipline
• 3–5+ years of hands-on product development experience, ideally working with plant-based proteins and complex food systems
• Strong understanding of ingredient functionality and interactions, including proteins, starches, fats, hydrocolloids, and leavening systems
• Demonstrated ability to design and run structured experiments, interpret data, and translate learnings into actionable formulation or process improvements
• Experience innovating with novel or emerging ingredients while balancing scalability, manufacturability, quality, and cost considerations
• Familiarity with analytical and product development tools such as rheology, viscometry, functional performance testing, and sensory evaluation
• Proven ability to collaborate cross-functionally with Engineering, Operations, Sales, and Marketing partners
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to document and explain technical work to diverse audiences
• Curiosity, ownership mindset, and a genuine passion for sustainable food innovation and Eat Just’s mission

Bonus If You Have

• Experience launching products from benchtop to shelf
• Familiarity with food safety standards and regulatory requirements for USDA- or FDA-regulated products
• Prior work in a startup or high-growth food company

The total package

We develop our salaries using market data, internal benchmarks, and candidate experience to ensure fairness and competitiveness. All full-time team members receive:

• Base salary
• Equity in Eat Just
• Up to 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Additional health, wellness, and time-off programs

Compensation: The expected base salary range for this role (based in Alameda, CA) is $135,000 - $175,000.

Additional Information & Requirements

This is a full-time onsite role (5 days/week) at our headquarters in Emeryville, CA.

This role requires unrestricted domestic and international travel required up to 15%.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. Eat Just, Inc. participates in E-Verify.