Dairy Farmers of America · 4 months ago
Principal Scientist
3233 E. Chestnut Expressway, Springfield, MO65802
Full-time
Onsite
Lead/StaffDairy Farmers of America is a leading company in the dairy industry, seeking a Principal Scientist to innovate and develop new dairy systems and flavors. The role involves research, product development, commercialization, and collaboration with sales and technical teams to meet customer needs and drive growth.
AgricultureDairyDietary SupplementsFood Processing
Responsibilities
Research dairy science, food science and equipment for the purpose of innovating new technologies and the development of intellectual property (IP) for DFA
Develop new wet and dry dairy systems, dairy flavors, dairy emulsions and solutions using DFA’s plethora of ingredient options and manufacturing capabilities
Reformulate products and stream-line processes appropriate to reduce cost
Perform applications testing simulating the customer’s end use to ensure the products developed exceed the customer’s expectations for taste, functionality, and nutrition
Utilize sensory science tools, available in the Innovation Center, to give data points to the customer demonstrating expectations are met/exceeded
Perform pilot plant testing to ensure a successful scale-up for DFA manufacturing and ultimately the end customer
Drive the commercialization of new products by partnering with the process technology team in the plants
Support the customer in scale up and commercialization to ensure DFA people and products are part of the scale up and launch
Effectively operate pilot plant equipment, for new products, cheeses, flavors and emulsion systems development
Develop effective concepts for benchtop sessions, in partnership with sales, to generate wins with customers
Support sales in determining customer needs, problems, insights, and strategy that would ultimately require a DFA solution
Proactively initiate action plans to maintain, improve and develop the DFA solutions and capabilities
Inspire and excite DFA customers through demonstration of unique new products and applications that are relevant to their consumers
Partner with sales to understand customer’s future needs, their brands, and strategies to anticipate new areas of capability development and innovative ideas for end use categories
Provide technical and applications expertise to support the customer
Drive opportunities to commercialization internally and close with the customer
Co-create and effectively utilize the product lifecycle management (PLM) process and adhere to the Scientific Development Standards Process, including version control, development notes and documented learnings
Effectively utilize CRM (Salesforce.com) as a tool to manage status of the opportunities, project milestones in the pipeline and track KPIs related to the opportunity pipeline continually improving our R&D service to customers, ultimately leading to faster speed-to-market driving increased customer connectivity
Collaborate with and influence technical sales, customer support and other stakeholders to 'solve for yes'
Contribute to technical content and make and review presentations for commercialization activities
Provide effective, timely and relevant reporting to leadership
Apply strong knowledge of the DFA’s capabilities – including understanding the functional and technical aspects of the products and how DFA’s capabilities differentiate us from others in the industry
Demonstrate a 'never stop learning' mindset and influence others to adopt this mindset
Active participation in commercial project review by offering guidance and mentorship
The requirements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employee, but is not a complete list of responsibilities, duties, and skills required. Other duties may be assigned as required
Qualification
Required
Expertise in dairy flavors and emulsions including dairy science research, innovation, development, applications
Experience in new product/solution development
Ability to reformulate products and streamline processes to reduce cost
Experience in applications testing simulating the customer's end use
Utilization of sensory science tools for data demonstration
Experience in pilot plant testing for successful scale-up
Ability to drive commercialization of new products
Experience in operating pilot plant equipment for new products, cheeses, flavors, and emulsion systems development
Ability to develop effective concepts for benchtop sessions
Experience in supporting sales in determining customer needs and strategies
Ability to proactively initiate action plans for DFA solutions and capabilities
Experience in inspiring and exciting customers through product demonstrations
Ability to partner with sales to understand customer's future needs and strategies
Technical and applications expertise to support customers
Ability to drive opportunities to commercialization internally and with customers
Experience in utilizing product lifecycle management (PLM) process
Experience in utilizing CRM (Salesforce.com) for managing project milestones and tracking KPIs
Ability to collaborate with and influence technical sales and customer support
Experience in contributing to technical content and presentations for commercialization activities
Ability to provide effective, timely, and relevant reporting to leadership
Strong knowledge of DFA's capabilities and differentiation in the industry
Demonstrated 'never stop learning' mindset and ability to influence others
Active participation in commercial project review by offering guidance and mentorship
Company
Dairy Farmers of America
Dairy Farmers of America is a milk marketing cooperative owned and served by farmers across the nation.
Founded in 1998
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Dairy Farmers of America has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (3)
2024 (6)
2023 (1)
2022 (2)
2021 (2)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$45MKey Investors
U.S. Department of Agriculture
2022-09-15Grant· $45M
Leadership Team
Dennis Rodenbaugh
Chief Executive Officer
Daniel Jones
Division Chief Financial Officer
Recent News
2025-12-15
Family Features
2025-11-04
Company data provided by crunchbase