COMPANY OVERVIEW:

Balchem Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets specialty ingredients that improve and enhance the health and well-being of life on the planet, providing state-of-the-art solutions and the finest quality products for a range of industries worldwide. Our corporate headquarters is located in Montvale, New Jersey and we have a broad network of sales offices, manufacturing sites, and R&D centers, primarily located in the US and Europe. Founded in 1967, Balchem is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ – “BCPC”) with annual revenues over $700 million and a market cap exceeding $4.0 billion. The company consists of three business segments: Human Nutrition & Health; Animal Nutrition & Health; and Specialty Products. Balchem employs over 1,400 people worldwide who are engaged in diverse activities, committed to developing the company into global market leadership positions. To learn more about our dynamic, stable and growing company, visit www.balchem.com

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Senior Scientist, Food Encapsulation Technology Manager is a member of the R&D Group based in New Hampton, NY. The position reports to the Director of Research & Development. The Senior Scientist will design and develop new encapsulated ingredients and provide technical support in commercialization of new products in Balchem’s Encapsulates product lines. This position will have strong working relationships with the Commercial, Operations, Purchasing and Quality organizations. They will utilize lab, pilot plant, and commercial scale equipment to generate data and develop reliable process technology. This position works closely with the manufacturing plant and will be responsible for supporting the execution of plant trials for new as well as existing product lines. The Senior Scientist will be a subject matter expert on Balchem-proprietary Encapsulation Technology. This role is both strategic and tactical in nature and is for someone who enjoys solving a diverse array of scientific and engineering challenges. The working environment will include office, laboratory, pilot plant, and manufacturing environments, and will require up to 20% business travel.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Lead and champion a culture of safety. Responsible for working safely in all situations, follows and enforces all safety policies, demonstrates safe behaviors including use of safety equipment and equipment safeguards, and champions the Balchem safety programs at their site.
• Manage innovation projects and be the technical leader for development of new products for the Encapsulates product line primarily to serve the human food market.
• Be a subject matter expert on Balchem proprietary encapsulation technology providing technical guidance and leadership on all facets of development and commercialization including formulation, product design, process development, process capability, and specification development.
• Create & review experimental designs, executing technical experiments, making detailed observations, analyzing data, recording, and interpreting results, and effectively reporting information written and orally to technical and non-technical partners.
• Work closely with Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, other R&D teams, and internal and external functional business partners to develop and test new product solutions and to troubleshoot issues within existing products and processes.
• Stay current with new technology developments and maintain professional contacts with individuals and organizations. Build and maintain relationships with current and potential customers.
• Participate and support pilot and commercial-scale trials with experimental design, process support and final reports. Troubleshoot production problems relating to raw materials, equipment, and/or processing conditions and documents findings.
• Facilitate prioritization of projects across the R&D portfolio and within the BU programs for the Human Health and Nutrition Business Unit as agreed upon with the commercial organization.
• Understand regulatory requirements and work to ensure compliance. Follow GMP protocols, regulatory requirements, and work to ensure product compliance with regulatory bodies like FDA.
• Be able to travel up to 10-20% of the time.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• BS degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Material Science with 10+ years of professional industrial experience or a M.S./Ph.D. degree in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering with 5+ years of industrial experience. Job title will depend on experience.
• Experience in particle engineering required.
• Proven technical expert with chemistry bench skills, research experience, and proven track record of successful project execution and patent filing.

• Ability to lead large, complex, multifunctional projects. Track record of on time delivery of multiple initiatives on one or more complex projects.
• Excellent understanding of safe laboratory practices, demonstrated history of safety leadership.
• Proven ability to communicate project progress both in written and oral form. Comfort around high-level management in oral project presentations.
• Proven track record of ideation: can develop ideas that help advance the organization’s ability to generate value for our customers.
• Superior problem solving and decision-making skills.
• Ability to work independently; strong interpersonal, communication and organizational skills. Results are primarily achieved through the work of others and typically depend on the individual’s ability to collaborate with internal partners where formal authority is not held.
• Conceptual, creative and analytic problem solving – the ability to break down complex issues and simplify by focusing on what matters.
• Experience with encapsulation or powder technologies.
• Capability to leverage technical and functional expertise to solve broader business issues.
• Understand the commercialization process with proven experience of its application.
• Demonstrated track record of translating commercial objectives into Research & Development strategies.
• Ability to learn new categories quickly and provide appropriate guidance.
• Knowledge of Food Safety, HACCP preferred.

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Balchem is committed to a workplace culture that values and promotes diversity, inclusion, equal employment opportunities, and a work environment free of harassment and hostility.