Back to jobs
New

Food Technologist (R&D)

Burlington, Iowa

 

Shearer's is a leading contract manufacturer and private label supplier in the snack industry in North America. Headquartered in Massillon, Ohio, Shearer's has 17 state-of-the-art, geographically diverse manufacturing facilities in Ohio, Texas, Arkansas, Arizona, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Iowa, Ontario and Alberta, Canada, including one of the industry's first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum LEED certified facilities in Massillon, Ohio. The Company is known for producing the highest quality snacks in assorted flavors and sizes, including kettle cooked potato chips, traditional potato chips, tortilla chips, cheese curls and other extruded snacks, and corn chips, as well as cookies, crackers, and wafers.

Food Technologist – Bakery Product Development

Location: Burlington, Iowa

 

Seeking an experienced Food Technologist to join our solutions-driven R&D team. This role will support the formulation, testing, and commercialization of innovative bakery products for a CPG manufacturing company. This role is hands-on and cross-functional, contributing to both new product development and the optimization of existing products. The ideal candidate has a strong foundation in bakery science, food formulation, and ingredient functionality, with the ability to work collaboratively across teams to bring concepts to market efficiently and successfully.

Join our team to help shape the future of our bakery development and deliver great-tasting, consumer-driven products!

Your Seat at the Table:

    • Lead product formulation and renovation projects from concept to commercialization, supporting the bakery portfolio which includes cookies, crackers, and sugar wafers.
    • Execute bench-top formulations and plant trials in coordination with senior technologists and cross-functional partners.
    • Conduct ingredient testing, product evaluations, competitive benchmarking, sensory, and shelf-life studies to ensure quality, taste, and performance.
    • Support troubleshooting of processing or formulation challenges during product development and scale-up.
    • Collaborate with Procurement, Quality, and Operations to support project timelines and goals.
    • Monitor trends in bakery and food technology to contribute fresh ideas to the product pipeline.
    • Assure product development compliance for new products to meet Kosher, USDA organic, GFSI (SQF) and other regulatory needs.
    • Support the creation of nutritional panels, ingredient decks and Shearer’s new product development QA and R&D related needs.
    • Track the development of new and proposed products’ technical ingredients and raw material specifications including key quality assurance components of allergens, nutritional information, and shelf life.
    • Maintain accurate and effective research and development records, documentation and version control of formulations, ingredients, raw material evaluations, plant trial requests, and trial reports.
    • Conduct trial work in a plant environment and adjust processing parameters and formulas to achieve the intended product outcome.
    • Evaluate finished products against targets and goals for taste, texture, and label requirements.

What you Bring to the Table:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Bakery Science, or a related field.
  • 3-5 years of experience in product development, preferably within the bakery segment of the CPG industry.
  • Working knowledge of bakery ingredient functionality and processing methods.
  • Hands-on experience with benchtop and scale-up/production formulation work.
  • Strong attention to detail, organizational skills, and technical documentation.
  • Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
  • Familiarity with sensory evaluation, food safety standards, and labeling requirements.

Preferred Experience:

  • Exposure to private label, co-manufacturing, or contract manufacturing projects.
  • Familiarity with product lifecycle or project management systems.

 

We Offer a Feast of Benefits

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Flexible Spending Account, Retirement Savings Plan with Match, Short Term Disability, Long Term Disability, Group Critical Accident Insurance, Group Critical Illness Insurance, Employee Assistance Plan and numerous opportunities to volunteer in the communities in which we operate.

 

You will be considered for employment in our inclusive workplace

Because at Shearer’s, we are committed to providing equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

 

This is your invitation to apply now!

To all recruitment agencies: Shearer’s Snacks does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, employees or any other company location. Shearer’s is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.

[Commercial]

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Shearer's Foods’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.