Sensory and Consumer Scientist

9 month contract.

Client: A major global corporation and leader in their industry with annual revenue over $90 B and employing over 250,000.

Overview:

This position will deliver high-level consumer and sensory expertise to research, technology and process-related programs, build and continuously improve functional capabilities, and develop and ensure cross-functional execution of global consumer centric initiatives. Establish consumer and sensory mastership by being at the forefront in driving consumer knowledge building initiatives. Provide expert recommendations that lead to knowledge-informed decisions across the organization ensuring competitive advantage/sensory superiority/differentiated innovation in existing and new categories and aligns with R&D and business strategies.

Role:

• Drive consumer centricity throughout the innovation & renovation process to optimize every consumer experience by being an advocate for our consumers by embedding a consumer centric mindset.
• Serve as a trusted advisor and recognized consumer and sensory expert to lead complex, strategic projects in a global context that have broad-based implications across R&D, the business and a cross categories.
• Cultivate foundational knowledge to accelerate and deepen understanding of ingredients, processes, products, packaging and consumers.
• Add value through execution excellence, and collaboration through influence, and mutual understanding, while leading projects to successful resolution.
• Utilize mastership of foundational and advanced design of experiment techniques and their application to escalate innovation and renovation impact, efficiency & agility.
• Utilize advanced market research approaches as decision tools to enhance innovation/renovation products that are differentiated in the marketplace.
• Execute consumer and sensory programs that closes the knowledge gap of our opportunities, challenges, markets, consumers, products, and processes.
• Advance vendor program relationships cultivated on trust and transparency.
• Ensure innovative approaches, thought leadership, advanced methodological expertise, strategic mind-set and strong business acumen are the foundation of all vendor partnerships.
• Serve as the communication lead that promotes consumer understanding across the organization.
• Maximize collaboration between sensory, consumer, R&D and global businesses/partners.
• Build and enhance functional capabilities and ensure cross-functional execution of global consumer centric sensory programs. Lead the implementation of these programs across all manufacturing sites, local and global.
• Ensure mastership and full utilization of internal sensory discrimination and descriptive analysis panels.
• Develop and advance validation procedures and develop panel performance KPIs to ensure the highest level of integrity and results are obtained through their use.
• Drive out-of-the-box thinking and new method development adoption within and across all sensory function.
• Model continuous improvement, technical knowledge sharing and functional expertise throughout the organization.
• Responsible for and establishing sensory specifications, that drive quality and manufacturing excellence.
• Follow food safety, food quality, occupational safety, health and environment policies and procedures as pertains to this role.

Qualifications:

• MS in food science, sensory evaluation, sensory science, psychology, consumer science, marketing research, nutrition, or statistics.
• 7 - 10+ years of experience within sensory and/or consumer testing, in a consumer-packaged goods or related business.
• Expert knowledge in a broad variety of consumer, sensory, and market research techniques applied across the value chain from early ideation to post launch assessment in business and R&D contexts.
• Knowledge of and research experience in sensory perception.

Experienced in the following:

• Discrimination testing.
• Descriptive analysis (including temporal methods).
• Consumer methods (qualitative and quantitative).
• Methods development.
• Statistics (univariate, multivariate, etc.).
• Design of experiment.
• Panel recruitment and maintenance.
• Panelist validation, training, and motivation.
• External agency management.
• Chemical senses of smell, taste, trigeminal irritation (mechanisms and function) and somatic senses.
• Application of sensory techniques in quality, QA, and compliance.