Foster Clark Products Ltd in Malta is looking to recruit a Senior Product Technologist (Category Product Technologist) to join their team on a full-time basis.

Job Role:
Reporting to the Head of R&D, the Category Product Technologist designs, plans, validates and implements the development of new products, line extensions, and products renovations within a number of assigned product categories that are in compliance with established safety standards, good manufacturing practices (GMPs) and will follow and uphold all Food Safety and Food Quality policies as pertains to the role. In the role, he/she assesses & develops under the guidance of the senior NPD manager the category consumer and competition benchmarking that defines the sensory space and competitive differentiation from competitors. The Category Product Technologist also acts as a link to pilot plant & factory support and follows the scale-up of products and supports operations with new product launches and assists in troubleshooting. The Product Technologist sets specifications for raw materials and products.

Key Accountabilities:
Product Innovation and Development;

Support the establishment of consumer and category benchmarking with a particular focus on existing competitors, market solutions, and sensory product profiling
Support the development of the innovation pipeline within your assigned categories by participating in exploratory activities to surface new product ideas with moderate input from the supervisor
Analyze consumer/regional analysis and extrapolate into a targeted product brief
Develop new products within the assigned categories, execute and analyze an experimental approach for product design, effectively troubleshooting as necessary, and offer plausible, executable solutions
Develop information for product/ingredient specifications, in-process control points, and testing requirements
Develop robust product specifications (from a nutritional and ingredient standpoint) to ensure sustainable and flexible formulas that will meet consumer, quality, and process needs.

Project Management;

Management of several medium-complexity projects with little supervision within the assigned categories
Provide technical input through the planning and decision-making process and effectively communicate with senior R&D management
Plan and lead product development projects and collaborate effectively with a cross-functional, multidisciplinary team to achieve the project scope on time and within budget while meeting quality parameters
Deliver a flawless handover to Operations, document findings and all relevant reports according to standard, and capture lessons learned and best practices.

Technical Assistance;

Responsible for adhering to the FCP stability program by ensuring timely initiation of stability studies, execution, and reporting as directed by the category responsible as part of recipe development & improvement or packaging changes.
Perform trials/experiments in kitchen/lab/pilot and factory scale to achieve all briefed objectives on time
Support the category during product industrialization by acquiring basic process understanding and ensuring proper knowledge transfer from R&D to operations.

Driving Improvements;

Responsible for approving Quality Control Samples
Effectively ensuring constant upkeep of competition analysis with basic sensory and consumer understanding to support product development.
Support the various matching programs
Participate effectively in investigations and problem-solving initiatives
Perform product analysis and set up new methods when required.

Ideal Candidate Profile:
Education;

Master’s degree in food technology/ Food Engineering with more than 5 years of experience in product development
A Ph.D. in a relevant area will be preferred
5 years of experience in Food Product Development in the factory/kitchen/lab environment.

Technical skills;

Knowledge of food technology
Strong knowledge and competencies in flavour chemistry (e.g. flavour generation, flavour stability, sensory relevance), and link to raw materials and food processing
Good level of ingredient knowledge & their impact on the process and the final product
Good knowledge of processes and technologies involved in food manufacturing
Ability to analyze and understand consumer/regional analysis
Good Sensorial skills and ability to deduct conclusions
Industry safety standards and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs).

Competencies;

Creativity and Innovation
Analytical thinking and problem-solving*
Attention to detail*
Drive for results*
Quality Orientation
Teamwork
Verbal and written communication
Environmental scanning
Program and Project Management
Planning and organizing*
Monitoring and measuring

Foster Clark Products Ltd:
With a strong tradition and a history dating back to 1889, Foster Clark is dedicated to developing and supplying quality beverage preparations and food products in the desert, baking products, and sauces and dressings sectors. As a forward-looking company with a strong history of success, Foster Clark is committed to researching, producing, and bringing to the market high-quality products that meet customer expectations in different regions, while continuing with our expansion through the globe. We are committed to our own people as we are to our customers, acknowledging that our success is a direct result of their qualities. We continue to strengthen our team in all areas of the business and offer excellent long-term prospects. Manufacturing and marketing high-quality food and beverage products in over 80 different countries, is the cornerstone of our success and the benchmark for all our operations and processes.

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