Product Development Specialist (Finance)

About Us:
Trilliant Food and Nutrition, located in Little Chute, WI is a state-of-the-art, vertically integrated production facility that has been a pioneer in the U.S. specialty coffee market since 1979. We have used our years of experience and skill in the traditional coffee segment to produce one thing: great coffee. Our facility features the most current, high-speed equipment to support our commitment to quality, value, speed-to-market, and innovation.

Horseshoe Beverage Company, located in Neenah, WI is a leading ready-to-drink beverage manufacturer focused on providing consumers with an outstanding beverage experience wherever, whenever. Leveraging industry-leading talent, state-of-the-art equipment, and our vertically integrated supply chain, we strive to be at the forefront of beverage innovation each day and deliver the highest quality beverages to our customers first.

The teams at Trilliant and Horseshoe come to work each day with relentless energy, enthusiasm, and a promise to enhance the beverage experiences of millions of people. We invite you to explore opportunities at Trilliant or Horseshoe, to see if your talents and career aspirations may fit with our openings.

Our Core Values:

Diversity and Inclusion at Trilliant and Horseshoe:
We believe talented, great people are the building blocks of our success. We believe in finding the right people, with the right attitude, and providing them with opportunities to excel.

Position Overview:
The Product Development Specialist role is responsible for formulating and understanding new products, completing commercialization tasks, product maintenance, product cost evaluation, product improvements, and overall management of product development projects and integration of the products into production. This is accomplished by leveraging good project management and research skills and creating good cross-functional relationships. Develop into a technical expert by developing new product formulations and improvements that fulfill nutritional, regulatory, operational, and consumer/customer requirements and expectations, and design and completion of in-depth research projects. Common tasks include DOE, execution, writing, documentation of specifications, product development, evaluation of new products, technical problem solving, process improvement, project management and supervision, and cost savings opportunities.

Responsibilities:
· Serve as product owner for internal and customer-focused R&D initiatives.
· Design and complete research initiatives to gain better understanding of our products and processing capabilities.
· Research products in depth to understand and optimize formulations, product quality, and product processing.
· Design and conduct research projects to help solve technical problems with formulation, quality, or processing of products.
· Design, plan, prepare, and evaluate new and current product formulations.
· Manage multiple R&D projects at one time.
· Develop products according to customer requirements that align with company manufacturing capabilities, including prototype development, testing, and shelf-life evaluation.
· Provide support to other functions and customers including qualification of raw materials, formulation adjustments based on customer requests/product reviews.
· Carry out product development activities from concept to production, including benchtop prototyping, hands on pilot plant testing, scale-up and transition to full production.
· Participate in product documentation including product and ingredient specifications, manufacturing instructions, nutrition information, ingredient statements, and product descriptions, as well as customer specific documentation requirement or requests.
· Implement new products at the plant level by providing trial protocols, processing instructions, hands on participation in trials or production runs while following good manufacturing practices and in accordance with company manufacturing guidelines and requirements.
· Provide appropriate documentation of experimental trials and outcomes to facilitate scale up and product transfer to manufacturing.
· Prepare documents or presentations that provide technical information, assistance, and preparation instructions.
· Help the sales team and customers with questions on existing new products.
· Maintain confidentiality of company and customer proprietary formulas, ingredients, and projects.
· Design and conduct shelf-life studies, including product and package performance under various conditions and make recommendations for appropriate adjustments to product and package.
· Investigate technical complaints and problems with current products and make recommendations on ingredients / process changes to address these issues.
· Comply with company safety, HACCP, and GMP policies during plant trials and other plant activities.
· Remains aware of changes in rules and regulations affecting label copy and contents

Qualifications:
· An advanced degree in food science, food engineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, or related disciplines is required
· Demonstrated experience completing hypothesis driven research is required.
· At least 2-4 years of research experience is preferred.
· Demonstrated hands on experience in researching product formulation, nutrition, food additives, ingredient functionalities, or thermal processing.
· Excellent understanding of food science and technology principles, and an ability to apply them in research designs, product development, product optimization, and commercialization.
· Experience in formulating and managing product development projects in beverage, coffee, ready-to-drink, thermal processing, dairy, aseptic processing, or related applied research and development is a bonus.
· Experience with aseptic processing, or flavor chemistry is a bonus.
· Demonstrated practical understanding of the use of spreadsheets, statistical evaluations, statistical calculations, data management, and preparation of presentations
· Demonstrated Project management skills with the ability to react positively to rapidly changing priorities.
· Proactive orientation to achieve results through cross functional teamwork.
· Excellent written and interpersonal communication skills.
· The ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
· Ability to communicate technical knowledge/expertise internal and external customers.
· Ability to lift 50 lbs, stand, and operate pilot plant equipment.
Hours, Location and Pay:
We offer a competitive-based pay rate and comprehensive benefits package for full-time employees. This role works Monday - Friday regular business hours but may be expected to work off hours as needed to support the business. This role works primarily out of our Neenah, WI manufacturing facility, but may also travel to our Little Chute, WI facility.
Physical and Mental Demands:
· While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit, hear, use hands to type data, use a personal computer and telephone. This employee may occasionally have to operate business machines and lift and/move up to 50 pounds.
· Specific vision abilities required in this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
· Mental demands include multi-tasking, decision making, problem solving, comparing, copying, computing, compiling, analyzing, coordinating, and synthesizing data.
· Potential for exposure to chemicals, heights, loud noises, mechanical equipment, wet environments, and other potential hazards exist.

Safety Statement:
At Trilliant and Horseshoe, safety is every employee's first responsibility. We expect all employees to adhere to all safety practices, have the moral courage to stop other individuals from performing unsafe acts, and immediately report unsafe conditions.
Disclosures:
· The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.
· Responsible for following food safety/regulatory policies and procedures, executing responsibilities as identified in standard operating procedures, and reporting food safety/regulatory concerns to the Production or Quality Manager.
· Trilliant Food & Nutrition and Horseshoe Beverage Company are Drug Free Workplaces. All applicants are subject to a drug screen and background check as a condition of employment.
· Trilliant Food and Nutrition and Horseshoe Beverage participate in the E-Verify process.
· EEO/AA including Vets and Disabled
· If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at HR@trilliantfood.com and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.
· Trilliant Food and Nutrition and Horseshoe Beverage are Equal Opportunity Employers.
· The principles of the OECD and UN have been taken into consideration and used as guidance in our human rights practices and procedures.