Urgent Vacancy For Senior Research Associate- Mumbai(Andheri East)

Role & responsibilities

We are looking for a technically strong, innovative, and future-oriented Senior Research Associate who can take ownership of product research and development activities and gradually grow into a technical and people leadership role within the Products R&D function.

The candidate will be responsible for leading research and development of seasonings, spice blends, flavour systems, and snack applications, while building strong technical capabilities within the team.

The role will require a combination of hands-on technical expertise, project ownership, problem-solving, cross-functional collaboration, mentoring, and team development.

The successful candidate is expected to develop into a key technical resource and, over time, build, mentor, and lead the Products R&D team.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead research on spices, herbs, seasonings, flavour ingredients, functional ingredients, carriers, and food additives used in seasoning and spices.
• Identify emerging ingredients, technologies, processing methods, flavour systems, and seasoning concepts relevant to the business.
• Translate consumer preferences, market trends, customer requirements, and competitive insights into innovative product concepts.
• Build a pipeline of new seasoning, spice, flavour, and snack concepts aligned with business opportunities.
• Continuously explore new technologies and ingredients that can create differentiated and commercially viable products.
• Lead the development and optimization of seasoning formulations, spice blends, flavour systems, and application-specific solutions.
• Develop seasoning profiles based on required taste, aroma, heat level, colour, mouthfeel, flavour intensity, aftertaste, and application performance.
• Optimize formulations for sensory performance, functionality, stability, manufacturability, and cost.
• Lead NPD, product renovation, reformulation, and product improvement projects from concept to commercialization.
• Independently troubleshoot formulation and application challenges and develop technically sound solutions.
• Take end-to-end ownership of assigned R&D projects from concept, formulation, trials, validation, scale-up, and commercialization.
• Develop project plans, define milestones, manage timelines, and ensure timely completion of R&D activities.
• Coordinate pilot and commercial trials and support successful scale-up and technology transfer.
• Identify technical risks early and develop appropriate mitigation plans.
• Ensure products are developed with consideration for quality, cost, scalability, manufacturability, and commercial requirements.
• Lead sensory evaluation, comparative studies, product benchmarking, and application testing.
• Benchmark competitor products and analyse ingredient systems, seasoning profiles, flavour characteristics, sensory attributes, and product performance.
• Establish structured approaches for sensory assessment, product comparison, and formulation decision-making.
• Build and maintain technical knowledge of relevant market and competitor products.
• Lead studies related to shelf life, stability, flavour retention, moisture sensitivity, colour stability, and seasoning performance.
• Evaluate the impact of processing, packaging, storage, and application conditions on product performance.
• Work closely with Quality, Production, Procurement, Marketing, Regulatory, Operations, and other stakeholders to ensure successful product development.
• Provide technical inputs for product concepts, specifications, raw material selection, trials, and commercialization decisions.
• Partner with suppliers and external technical teams for ingredient development, trials, troubleshooting, and innovation projects.
• Communicate technical findings, project status, risks, and recommendations clearly to internal stakeholders.

Preferred candidate profile

• 10 to 15 years of hands-on experience in Food R&D, Product Development, Seasoning, Spices, Flavours, Ingredients, or Snack Applications.
• Strong practical experience in seasoning formulation and spice blend development.
• Strong knowledge of spices, herbs, oleoresins, extracts, flavorings, functional ingredients, carriers, anti-caking systems, and food additives.
• Strong understanding of sensory evaluation, flavour profiling, benchmarking, formulation optimization, and product troubleshooting.
• Proven experience in NPD, renovation, scale-up, commercialization, and technology transfer.
• Ability to independently manage multiple R&D projects and priorities.
• Strong ownership mindset with the ability to move from individual technical contributor to team leader.