Food Technologist - Technical Innovation
About this role
Join Riverside Natural Foods Ltd., a Canadian-based, family-owned, and globally operating business, committed to leaving the world better than we found it. As a B-Corp certified, Triple-Bottom Line company, we proudly manufacture nutritious, 'better-for-you' snacks such as MadeGood and GOOD TO GO. We value teamwork, humility, respect, ownership, adaptability, grit, and fun.
We’re on an ambitious mission to double our business by 2027, and we need talented individuals like you to help us reach new heights. At Riverside, you’ll have the opportunity to chart your own path to success while contributing to ours. We believe anything worth doing is worth doing right, and our values will guide us through the rugged terrain – and yes, it will get rough. But that’s what makes the journey worthwhile.
So, lace up your boots and let’s tackle the climb together.
You can learn more about us at www.riversidenaturalfoods.com.
Purpose:
The Food Technologist on the Technical Innovation team will be responsible for supporting Innovation and new product development at Riverside. The Food Technologist should be a creative self-starter with an aptitude for learning and applying knowledge of food science principles to different scenarios. The candidate should have a solid foundation in applied science and a demonstrated skill and interest with recipe development and/or culinary arts.
The ideal candidate should be curious, flexible, adaptable to changing priorities and comfortable with ambiguity and change. They will possess the grit to overcome steep obstacles with a positive attitude. They should be able to navigate challenges creatively, follow detailed processes accurately, use data to inform decision-making, and translate scientific findings into actionable insights.
The successful candidate should embody Riverside’s core values and be a role model for the team. They should be passionate about science and committed to delivering honest results.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Demonstrate and uphold Riverside’s Core Values
- Participate in identification of new innovation opportunities to meet Riverside’s current needs and future growth plans
- Keep abreast of industry trends in the global snack marketplace and beyond
- Attend trade shows, seminars, customer/vendor meetings, etc. as needed
- Build collaborative relationships with existing or new ingredient vendor partners
- Develop new recipes and flavours with guidance in line with required brand attributes, cost targets, timelines, certifications (e.g. Kosher, Organic, Vegan, Gluten-Free, etc.), and other relevant food safety, regulatory and quality parameters
- Complete proof of principle research and testing to ensure feasibility and readiness of new products for refinement and launch in large scale manufacturing. Including but not limited to:
- Follow established protocols for experimental design and execution. Seek guidance for higher complexity projects.
- Perform testing at lab scale, pilot scale or full-scale manufacturing trials both internally and externally to ensure feasibility of product
- Use sound scientific evidence to seek truth, rather than success or failure. Use this information to make informed decisions and provide actionable insights with guidance
- Select, execute, and interpret sensory evaluation tests with guidance
- Clearly communicate findings to cross-functional and non-technical stakeholders
- Collaborate with brand marketing teams to ensure alignment with market & consumer trends, brand guardrails and technical feasibility
- Manage projects and conduct technical risk assessments while collaborating with multiple stakeholders under supervision. Complete assigned tasks on-time & collaborate with cross-functional partners
- Develop and maintain accurate project records to ensure seamless transitions of project ownership and capture learnings from project successes and failures
- Execute projects to improve R&D or Innovation processes & capabilities
- Respect and promote the company’s health and safety program, maintaining a safe working environment and ensure the continued compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety act and JHSC recommendations
- Manage timeline and documentation of personal project load
- Demonstrate adaptability when faced with changes to project scope and timelines, participate in risk assessments and implements mitigation strategies identified.
- Support fellow R&D and Technical Innovation colleagues as needed. Support onboarding of new staff as needed
- Other duties as required
Education and Qualifications:
- Post-secondary degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Chemistry, Engineering, or related field
- Experience in Food Research and Development (1-3 years), ideally a portion in food/recipe/product innovation development
- Co-op/intern experience acceptable
- Experience working in kitchens, laboratories, pilot plants, and/or manufacturing facilities
- Experience in bakery, slab, sweet or savoury snack foods, confectionary, dessert, inclusions, or chocolate is preferred
- Proficient with MS Office, MS Outlook, MS Excel, SharePoint. Experience with Genesis, Specright, Monday.com, SAP an asset
Skills and Abilities:
- Proactive and self-motivated; able to see gaps and take OWNERSHIP to fill them without being asked
- Analytical and problem-solving skills, driven to seek honest answers
- Disciplined; uses food science fundamentals and maintains technical rigour in everyday work
- Demonstrated ADAPTABILITY and GRIT when faced with setbacks, rapid change and ambiguity
- Creative flair; pushes the boundaries to find unconventional solutions
- Embraces discomfort, HUMBLE and excited to explore new challenges and territories
- PASSIONATE for innovation and brings enthusiasm daily
- Deep desire for knowledge, personal skill development and career growth
- Excellent time management and organizational skills; can function independently
- Known as a TEAM player, who is skilled in collaboration and operates with RESPECT
- Ability to sample Riverside brands’ products and ingredients or products of interest
- Ability to travel regularly to Riverside manufacturing sites (Toronto/Vaughan area) and occasionally nationally/internationally (5%)
Functional & Leadership Competencies:
|
Functional Capabilities |
Definition |
Competencies |
Comments |
|
New product development |
Ability to create new products meeting project guardrails (formulation, certifications, cost, timing, etc.) |
Formulation Knowledge Ingredient Functionality Manufacturing Knowledge Data management Organoleptic evaluation |
-Uses food science foundations to develop new food products efficiently -Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure the product is appropriate -Uses tools available effectively -Aware of personal skill gaps and bridges them where needed |
|
Ideation and Innovation |
Ability to translate and apply industry knowledge to drive innovation and ideation. Navigates ambiguous challenges by leveraging scientific expertise and problem solving to generate novel ideas. |
Critical Thinking Creativity Problem Solving Experimental Design
|
- Uses critical thinking and creativity to translate industry trends & insights into relevant and novel food products for Riverside’s pillars - Can persevere through ambiguity to present technical recommendations |
|
Leadership Capabilities |
Definition |
FYI Competencies |
Comments |
|
Building Collaborative Relationships |
Working with internal and external partners respectfully to build win-win relationships and foster opportunities for shared insights and success |
Collaborates Builds Networks |
- Self-motivated to reach out to others and start new relationships - Readily connects and engages with network at Riverside and externally to solve problems, fill gaps, get support, and return help
|
|
Delivers Results |
Delivering results by creatively and effectively seeking the necessary resources, and using grit to tackle challenges faces along the way |
Resourcefulness Resilience Manages Ambiguity |
- Views obstacles and failure as opportunities - Creative and resourceful to find solutions to situations where others may stumble - Reacts to change with positivity - Willing to take initiative |
|
Breakthrough Thinking |
Driving innovation by thinking beyond the mold and being unafraid to take bold risks and try, try, and try again Demonstrating contagious excitement to do things differently |
Cultivates Innovation |
- Passionate and enthusiastic about innovation - Takes risks rooted in scientific foundations - Not afraid to fail - Uses learning from failure and challenges to pivot, grow, and continue moving forward - Humble |
Key Accountabilities
|
Responsibility |
KPI/ Metric to Measure Success |
Rating (1 – 3) |
Comments |
|
Support the innovation cycle by developing new innovations and formulations to meet business needs (approx. 0-1 major, 4-6 minor/year) |
- 4+ new formulations meeting all project guardrails complete for handover to R&D Commercialization |
Crucial tasks, day to day, role-critical, urgent |
Flying the plane |
|
Continuous improvement of R&D & Innovation processes – Leading 1-2 key process improvements/year |
- 1-2+ processes improved (metric TBD – time savings, $ savings, etc. targets) |
Important tasks, supporting the team
|
Building the plane |
|
Manage product development activities in a project timeline |
- Manage 3+ projects and their respective product development timelines - Ensure projects remain on track and appropriate technical activities are complete |
Important tasks, supporting the team
|
|
Please note this role as a new vacancy.
Please note this role is an existing vacancy.
At Riverside, we are committed to transparency and fairness in our compensation and job posting practices. The range above reflects the target compensation for the position at the time of posting. Exact compensation will be determined based on experience, skill set, education, and training, as well as other organizational needs, while balancing internal equity.
What we expect:
- Values-led: You’ll be a member of a thoughtful and compassionate team that prioritizes respect, teamwork and resourcefulness along with a good dash of fun. Sometimes, even making granola bars is hard, and life’s too short to take ourselves so seriously that we don’t enjoy the journey.
- Unparalleled experiences and opportunities: We’re still determining who we are and what we can be. Help us shape what this organization will look like and what we’ll offer the world, into the future. This means rolling up your sleeves and sometimes building the process – fast! – while employing it. At Riverside, progress occasionally means proceeding imperfectly, and we’re okay with that, as long as we’re staying true to our values and learning and improving along the way.
- Access to everyone: We’re a flat organization with few silos which means you’ll have full access to everyone from our founders to our production staff. Even when employees dress up, they wear steel-toed shoes. So don’t be shy. Speak up, share your ideas and go places you normally wouldn’t – like the plant, or the boardroom.
- Personal development: We’ll support and empower you to chart your own path and reach any heights you set for yourself. Career paths at Riverside are carved by the people walking on them, not dictated by leaders. Count on us to give you the training and tools to grow and progress.
- Gratitude: As a growing business, we can’t always offer formal recognition like awards programs, but we do show our true gratitude and appreciation. At Riverside, we’re all in this together and we value you.
- Be a Riverside Brand Ambassador: Stay relentlessly close to our consumers and represent the brand in every interaction, decision, and deliverable. Bring the consumer voice into your work by protecting product quality, availability, and experience, acting early when standards slip, and delivering consistent value that earns trust, advocacy, and long-term brand love.
What We Offer:
- Values-led: We don’t cut corners or step on anyone or anything on our way to our summit. There is no winning at all costs here. Every step you take must align with our values, no compromises.
- Courageous determination: As a family-run, rapidly growing business, we are often challenged to find ways to deliver that aren’t obvious or easy. You must be willing to try, ask and answer challenging questions, test and learn, turn over every stone, keep moving forward and help us find a way through. Resourcefulness and grit will be your constant companions at Riverside and will serve you well.
- Humility: We’re a small (but growing) fish in a sea of whales and sharks. We know the products we offer are some of the healthiest and most sustainable, but we don’t brag about it, and know we have a steep path ahead. We pride ourselves in being respectful and supportive of others while shining brightly through our innovative, high-quality products. There isn’t one superstar at Riverside. We take turns leading the way as we climb to the summit.
- Continuous improvement: As a learn-as-we-go organization, we rely on each other to continuously improve everything we touch to make it better, more efficient, more sustainable, and more endearing to customers, consumers, employees, vendors, partners and the community. We own our mistakes and learn from them as we wind our way to the top.
Wait! There’s more!
- Immerse yourself in our comprehensive benefits program, with Riverside taking care of the costs!
- RRSP matching or 401k matching for an empowered financial journey
- Eligibility to participate in Riverside's Profit Sharing Plan
- Join Employee-Led Resource Groups (ERGs) championing mental health, sustainability, diversity, women, and LGBTQ+ rights
- Develop your career further through our Riverside University program and with our Tuition Reimbursement Program
- An open concept work environment that embodies our Values
How to Apply:
If you have the commitment to excellence, the energy, the attitude and experience we need, then please submit your resume to careers(AT)riversidenaturals.com with the job title you are applying for in the subject line or click the apply button!
Riverside Natural Foods Ltd. is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone. If you have a disability and require accommodation in the interview process, please let us know when you apply. We thank all applicants for their interest; however, due to volume, please note that only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
Disclaimer: As part of our recruitment process, we may use technology-assisted tools, including automated systems, to support the review and assessment of applications. These tools do not make final hiring decisions. All decisions related to screening, interviewing, and selection are made by our Talent Acquisition and hiring teams.