Principal Innovation Sensory Insights Scientist

At Nestl Health Science, we believe that nutrition, science, and wellness must merge, not collide. Here, we embrace the intrinsic connections of these three pillars, harnessing their collective strength to empower healthier lives. Our broad product portfolio includes renowned brands like Garden of Life®, Nature's Bounty®, Vital Proteins®, Orgain®, Nuun®, BOOST®, Carnation Breakfast Essentials®, Peptamen®, Compleat Organic Blends®, and more. We also have extensive pharmaceutical expertise, offering innovative medicines that aim to prevent, manage, and treat gastrointestinal and metabolic-related diseases.

At Nestl Health Science, we bring our best for better lives. Our people are challenged to bring fresh, diverse views and make bold moves to empower healthier lives through nutrition. We know brilliant ideas can come from anyone, anywhere. Here we embrace the entrepreneurial spirit and collaborate with teams that champion focused and forward thinking. We are committed to fostering professional growth and celebrating the achievements of our people along the way. We offer dynamic career paths, robust development, opportunities to learn from talented colleagues around the globe, and benefits that support physical, financial, and emotional wellbeing.

Join us to innovate for impact and reimagine the future of health and nutrition for patients and consumers.

Principal Scientist, Innovation Sensory Insights

Innovation Sensory Insights is an essential function within Nestle Health Science's R&D organization that supports both innovation and renovation projects through sensory & product experience research. The team is looking for a Principal Scientist who will drive high-level consumer and sensory expertise to research, technology and process-related programs, build and continuously improves functional capabilities, and ensure execution of global consumer centric initiatives.

In this leadership position, this individual will have the opportunity for impact and influence at all levels of the organization. Reporting to the Director of R&D Innovation Insights, the Principal will lead projects with minimal oversight and oversee a team of 3 sensory scientists who independently lead their own projects. The ideal candidate should be a thought leader, creative and innovative, and have the capability to inspire action through their writing, conversations, and presentations.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Consumer Centricity: drive consumer centricity throughout the innovation & renovation process to optimize the consumer experience and be an advocate for our consumers by embedding a consumer centric mindset in everything you do.

• Foundational Knowledge: 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 across categories. Cultivate foundational knowledge to accelerate and deepen understanding of ingredients, processes, products, packaging and consumers.

• Innovation / Renovation Mastership: utilize mastership of foundational and advanced design of experiment and consumer techniques and their application to escalate Innovation and Renovation impact, efficiency & agility.

• Collaboration and Knowledge Leadership: advance vendor program relationships cultivated on trust and transparency. Ensure innovative approaches, thought leadership, advanced methodological expertise, strategic mindset and strong business acumen are the foundation of all vendor partnerships. Promote consumer understanding across the organization. Maximize collaboration between sensory, consumer, R&D, and business partners.

• Technical Expertise: build and enhance functional capabilities and ensure cross-functional execution of global consumer centric sensory programs.

• Value Delivery: ensure mastership and full utilization of internal sensory discrimination, descriptive & employee panels.

• Continuous Improvement Mindset: drive out-of-the-box thinking and new method development adoption within and across all sensory function that support Nestle Health Science. Model continuous improvement, technical knowledge sharing and functional expertise throughout the organization.

• Operational Excellence: 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 pertaining to this role.

• University graduate with a MS or PhD in food science, sensory evaluation, sensory science, psychology, consumer science, marketing research, nutrition, or statistics required.
• 10+ years of experience within sensory and/or consumer testing in a consumer-packaged goods or related business with master's level degree or a Ph. D. from an accredited sensory and/or market research learning institution with 7+ years of experience.
• 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. More specifically:
  • 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
  • Panelists validation, training and motivation
  • External agency management
  • Application of sensory techniques in quality, QA and compliance
• Strong written and oral communication skills with an emphasis on effective visual storytelling
• Strong organizational skills
• Able to work well in a team environment
• Independently motivated
• Good interpersonal/teamwork skills and a sense of business/technical interrelationships