QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

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• M.S. or Ph.D. in Food Safety or Food Microbiology or similar with 1-5 years of work experience in the food preservation field.

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• Experience in working with meat, bakery or savory applications is preferred.

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• Hands-on, with a practical mindset.

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• Competent in bench-top microbiology, aseptic technique, plating, transfer & culture maintenance. Competent in handling foodborne pathogens, including sporeformers,

• Gram-positives and Gram-negatives. Competent in handling yeast, mold, and lactic acid bacteria.
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• Must be able to work in an international, highly dynamic environment, able to set and adjust priorities with a high drive to deliver results.

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• Fluency in English, both oral and written.

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• Easy communicator, able to write clear reports and present results and conclusions to target audiences.

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• Ownership of projects or workstreams in projects, accountability for taking decisions on how to steer projects and drive projects to completion on schedule.

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• Knowledge of food microbiology and prevalence of spoilage and pathogens in different food applications, and the factors impacting microbial behavior in foods.

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• Knowledge of statistical design of experiments.

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• Ability to develop and deliver succinct and relevant technical presentations.

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• Strives for high standards, seeks innovative solutions, drives continuous improvement of products and processes, and demonstrates a high degree of intellectual curiosity.
  
  The typical hiring range for this role is $91,311 to $149,080 annually and is based on several factors including but not limited to education, work experience, certifications, location, etc. In addition to your pay, Kerry offers benefits such as a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and retirement contribution (all benefits and incentives are subject to eligibility requirements).
  
  Kerry is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. Kerry will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States for this opening. Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a background investigation and drug screen. Additional information can be found at: Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal (dol.gov).
  
  Beware of scams online or from individuals claiming to represent us. A Kerry employee will not solicit candidates through a non-Kerry email address or phone number. In addition, Kerry does not currently utilise video chat rooms (e.g., Google Hangouts) to conduct interviews. Refuse any request that asks you to provide payment to participate in the hiring process (e.g., purchasing a “starter kit,” investing in training, or something similar). Kerry will not ask you to pay any money at any point in the hiring process with the exception of reimbursable travel expenses. In addition, any payments made by Kerry will be from official firm accounts bearing the Kerry name.

ABOUT THE ROLE

As a Scientist, you will work in the Kerry Protection & Preservation RD&A team. You will work on the optimization of existing Kerry products and support the development of new products for control of spoilage organisms and pathogens. You will be responsible for serving end use market projects, strategy projects with the latest technical knowledge.
You will work closely together with Food scientists, Microbiologists and Business Development experts to jointly deliver the Food Protection strategy.
You will manage projects within Food Protection and will be responsible for the screening of antimicrobials in broth systems, as well as the design and execution of shelf-life and microbial challenge studies evaluating the performance of clean-label and conventional antimicrobials in a wide variety of food matrices. You will also be responsible for developing collaboration and connections with subject matter experts, industry leading scientists, scientific forums and strive to be a leading expert in the Preservation field. You will also keep current with the state of the art by complementing your experimental work with literature searches and participation in relevant conferences or online forums.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

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• Set-up, manage and conduct microbial studies in broth and application, such as challenge and shelf-life studies, inactivation studies across a broad portfolio of food applications.

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• Validate the performance of Kerry’s clean-label and conventional antimicrobial products in novel applications. Benchmark performance against competing technologies.

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• Coordinate external third-party challenge studies, including materials, data handling, and reporting. Provide input for proper study design and execution.

• Draw conclusions based on experimental data and share with the relevant stakeholders (RD&A, Business Development, Product Management, Sales) in a manner fit for the audience.
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• Perform periodic reviews of internal challenge study database and present findings to Technical Business Development leaders to identify commercially relevant gaps in the study database.

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• Build strong working relations with RD&A colleagues in Kerry Taste and Nutrition food science teams.

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• Build a network with research institutes, universities, and external labs to drive the Food Protection strategy.

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• Implement and execute Food Protection strategy plans to meet business needs.