Flavorist, Savory - Geneva, IL

You may know McCormick as a leader in herbs, spices, seasonings, and condiments – but we’re also one of the fastest growing flavor houses! As a global leader in Flavor, we use our culinary-inspired heritage and passion for innovation to create flavor solutions for the entire food, beverage, health & nutrition industries. We’re investing in the future of flavor, and we’re winning! 

We are looking to hire a full time Flavorist. This position will be located in Geneva, IL. This position will report to a Sr Principal Scientist.

McCormick employees – all 14,000 of us across the world – are what makes this company a great place to work. Flavor is at the heart of our business, and that’s why we are always looking for passionate people who are just as excited to make a flavorful future as we are. Be part of our dynamic Flavor Crew and help us transform the future of flavor – together! 

The best people deserve the best rewards. In addition to the competitive and comprehensive benefits you’d expect from an award-winning global leader (401k, health insurance, paid time off, etc.) we also offer:

• Competitive compensation

• Career growth opportunities

• Flexibility and Support for Diverse Life Stages and Choices

• We prioritize our communities and the planet we share. We are proud to be awarded as a Diversity Inc. Top 50 company for Diversity and have multiple Sustainability awards (ranking #22 in the World and #1 in Food Products)

• Wellbeing programs including Physical, Mental and Financial wellness

• Tuition assistance

POSITION OVERVIEW:

This role will work in the Food Business Unit.  The Flavorist will independently create and evaluate flavors for a variety of applications with the use of proprietary technologies. This role will interface with customers, multiple R&D teams, responding to specific project requests. Additionally, the Flavorist promotes the commercialization of flavors with QA/production and supports on any challenges in the flavor manufacturing plant.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Leading flavor creation in a variety of products and providing excellent great tasting and cost optimized flavors for Industrial Customers.


• Responsible for creation of sweet and savory flavor systems with key emphasis in savory flavors in all formats: liquid, encapsulation, and reaction flavors to meet the brief requirements.


• Self-directing on complex projects including planning and leading cross functional project teams, defining, and assessing project requirements and designing and managing experiments.


• Close collaboration with the McFONA analytical teams.


• Provide support as an internal expert on projects performed in other groups within McCormick, with outside consultants, and / or with vendors.


• Commercialization of flavors (understanding of processes and operations for product manufacture) and troubleshooting problems.


• Offer Technical Support for formulations to Operation and Quality functions.  


• Interface and communicate project status with customers and commercial team.


• Supervise and instruct lower-level employees.


• Proactively evaluate and assess new ingredients and technologies and work to develop areas that may need improvement.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• BS in Food Science/Technology, Food Engineering, Chemistry, or a related field.


• Certified member of the Society of Flavor Chemist & minimum 10 years of active flavor creation work


• Proven track record of commercial success in flavor and flavor application development.


• In-depth understanding of ingredients and technology involved with flavor formation, application, and stability.


• Expert in raw materials, manufacturing processes, quality assurance programs and food regulations. Working knowledge of AFFCO compliance for pet care flavors a plus.


• Maintains up to date awareness of literature, influencing project direction and proposing new technology areas to pursue within field.


• Ability to make presentations that cover technical topics, R&D capabilities, etc.


• Ability to manage risk in making critical decisions.


• Ability to interpret data and solve complex problems with incomplete information.


• Supports & embraces change while continuing to improve technical & interpersonal skills


• Shows awareness of opportunities for improving processes in area(s) of expertise and brings suggestions to appropriate teams. Generates & implements ideas to improve / optimize experimental routes.


• Demonstrates a high level of scientific and practical ability to apply experimental design & application of scientific method.


• Skilled in catalog of flavor raw materials and functionality, processing methods


• Experienced in commercialization of flavors in production, QA release and trouble shooting.


• Effectively works well in a team and matrix environment and has excellent communication skills.


• Has excellent ability in taste discrimination and flavor descriptor vocabulary.


• Intellectual curiosity, flexibility, demonstrated aptitude for complexity and managing in a complex environment, an innovative imagination, and the ability to operate in "grey" space.


• May need to travel up to 25% of the time to customers.

#LI-CG1

McCormick & Company is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.

As a general policy, McCormick does not offer employment visa sponsorships upon hire or in the future. 

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Base Salary: $74,330 to $130,080

Base salary compensation will be determined based on factors such as geographic location, skills, education, experience for this role, and/or internal equity of our current employees as part of any final offer. This position is also eligible to participate in McCormick’s Incentive Bonus (MIB) Plan. In addition to a competitive compensation package, permanent employees of McCormick are eligible for our extensive Total Rewards programs that include:

- Comprehensive health plans covering medical, vision, dental, life and disability benefits

- Family-friendly benefits such as paid parental leave, fertility benefits, Employee Assistance Program, and caregiver support

- Retirement and investment programs including 401(k) and profit-sharing plans