Johnsonville, LLC 

R&D Product Development Scientist

Position Overview:

Johnsonville has an excellent opportunity for an outstanding individual to join us as a key member of our Product Development Team. Your primary responsibility will be to drive significant business growth and profitability by enabling Johnsonville to develop and commercialize products that meet critical to quality criteria through formula, process and equipment optimization.

In this role, you will:

• Work as part of an agile Research & Development Team to optimize or develop existing and new products or processes from concept to commercialization
• Overcome technical hurdles by integrating meat science, meat processing, food safety and consumer insight concepts that advance product and process performance of RTE and fresh meat products
• Interact and develop strong relationships with other members from Marketing, Operations, Food Safety and Quality, Engineering, R&D, and Supply Chain.

Responsibilities:

• Build superior products and processes by leveraging your knowledge and skill sets in product development, meat/food science, food chemistry, processing, packaging and manufacturing. It is expected that you continuously develop your competencies in these areas so that you are able to make significant contributions to the development of new products and/or extend-the-gap on quality of existing products
• Enable production facilities to make products that are within specification and address formulation and processing parameters that are critical to quality.
• Challenge your ability as a technical member on multiple cross-functional teams and expect to contribute to productivity, flexible formulation, and development projects through concept to commercialization.
• Leverage your network of industry, academic and vendor relationships to help guide rapid development and solve problems
• Expand your skills as a communicator through written and oral communication by working effectively with all levels within the organization so that business needs are met
• Become recognized within Johnsonville and the food industry as a world class Food (Meat) Scientist because of your accomplishments, continuous learning, and leadership abilities

Education:

• Master’s Degree or higher (Ph. D preferred) in Animal or Food Science with a meat science emphasisrequired

Experience:

• Meat industry experience (3 years) in product development of prepared refrigerated/frozen foods preferred; experience in fresh and ready-to-eat red meat/poultry is a plus
• Experience working with a wide range of proteins in both fresh and ready-to-eat formats including formulation, processing, knowledge of shelf life, food safety requirements and recommendation of packaging structures required
• Knowledge of USDA/FDA regulations and standards beneficial

Skills and Competencies:

• Drive for results
• Comfortable with ambiguity, calculated risk taking, fast pace & change management
• Ability to communicate details to both technical and non-technical members for fact-based decision making
• Demonstrated ability to overcome technical barriers in a manner that achieves a product’s critical to quality attributes while managing cost pressures
• Analytical (gathers critical data to help the organization make informed decisions)

Date:                                 April 9, 2026

Location:                          Technical Center, Sheboygan Falls, WI

                                           (Our office is about an hour north of Milwaukee)

Coach:                               Sr. R&D Coordinator

Member Status:              Full Time, Salaried

Travel:                               Up to 30% of your time

Reason for Posting:        Replacement

Benefits:                           Members have potential for a monthly bonus and 401k with a company match. Members also have access to terrific benefits including affordable medical, dental and vision coverage; flexible spending accounts; disability and life insurance; and fertility and adoption assistance. Johnsonville also offers competitive paid time off, including paid parental time off, as well as access to the 24/7 onsite fitness center and onsite medical clinic.

About our Company

Since 1945, our family-owned band of sausage-makers has invented better ways to make, eat and prepare crave-able sausage. Today, we are 4,000+ Members strong. We sell our famous sausage in all 50 United States and more than 40 countries. We have a culture built on the idea that if we make developing your talents our top priority, great business results will follow naturally. We call it The Johnsonville Way. It has been our secret sauce for decades, and we hope you get to experience it for yourself!

How to Apply:  

External candidate:  Apply on-line only at: careers.johnsonville.com/Johnsonville

Applicants must be authorized to work in the US without requiring sponsorship now or in the future.

Johnsonville is an equal opportunity employer, including Vet/Disability.

We embrace the principles of Equal Opportunity Employment and do not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic, including protected veteran and disability status.

About Johnsonville, LLC

Since 1945, our family-owned band of sausage-makers has invented better ways to make, eat and prepare crave-able sausage. Today, we are 4,000+ Members strong. We sell our famous sausage in all 50 United States and more than 40 countries. We have a culture built on the idea that if we make developing your talents our top priority, great business results will follow naturally. We call it The Johnsonville Way. It has been our secret sauce for decades, and we hope you get to experience it for yourself!

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