Research and Development Specialist

R&D Specialist - Nutrition Ingredients (Milwaukee Area)

A growing and innovation-focused company within the food and nutrition ingredients sector is seeking an R&D Specialist to support product development and customer-driven innovation across dietary supplement and functional ingredient applications.

This role is ideal for a hands-on professional with experience in food or nutrition product development, particularly within dry ingredient systems and supplement-related applications.

You will play a key role in managing projects from concept through commercialization, working cross-functionally to deliver high-quality, customer-focused ingredient solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage product development projects from customer brief through to commercialization
• Develop formulations to meet nutritional, cost, and timeline requirements
• Create new ingredient solutions for food, beverage, and dietary supplement applications
• Troubleshoot and adjust formulations in response to raw material or supply challenges
• Support pilot-scale work including spray drying, blending, and application trials
• Generate accurate nutritional data, specifications, and supporting product documentation
• Maintain and manage ingredient and formulation portfolios
• Coordinate and fulfil sample requests in a timely manner
• Support urgent project needs and issue resolution as required
• Collaborate cross-functionally with sales, production, supply chain, quality, and operations teams
• Communicate project progress and updates to internal and external stakeholders
• Build strong relationships with customers, distributors, and external partners
• Ensure compliance with U.S. food labeling and dietary supplement regulations (international knowledge a plus)
• Maintain a safe, organized, and compliant laboratory environment following GMP and food safety standards
• Support internal training and knowledge-sharing initiatives
• Utilize internal systems (e.g. ERP/CRM tools) to manage projects and documentation
• Participate in continuous improvement initiatives across product development and lab operations
• Travel periodically for customer visits, manufacturing support, and industry events

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science or a related field
• 2-5 years of experience in product development within food, nutrition, or dietary supplement manufacturing
• Hands-on experience in laboratory and/or pilot plant environments
• Strong experience working with dry ingredient systems and functional formulations
• Knowledge of dietary supplements, nutraceuticals, sports nutrition, or functional food markets strongly preferred
• Experience with spray drying or similar processing technologies preferred
• Working knowledge of U.S. food labeling and dietary supplement regulations
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously with strong attention to detail
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to develop practical, customer-focused solutions
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment