Job Description

We are not looking for a generalist. We are looking for an expert who can own refrigerated ready meal shelf life validation, strengthen the science behind food safety, and communicate credibly with some of the largest retailers in the United States and beyond.

WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS

Northwest Frozen needs a high-agency food scientist who can bridge product development, shelf life science, and food safety. This role will work closely with our QA Manager and partner across QA, R&D, and operations to validate shelf life, evaluate process risk, improve product stability, and bring strong technical judgment to refrigerated ready meals and pasteurized meal systems.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

• Lead refrigerated ready meal shelf life validation programs, including microbiological, quality, and sensory assessments.
• Prepare clear, credible customer-facing technical reports related to shelf life validation, sensory parameters, and supporting data for some of the largest retailers in the United States and beyond.
• Provide deep technical expertise in pasteurization, sous vide, cook-in-pouch systems, and hot fill soups and sauces.
• Partner with the QA Manager on the food science behind food safety, including hazard evaluation, validation strategy, process controls, and practical risk-based decision making.
• Evaluate and recommend clean label preservation strategies, including Whole Foods Market-approved natural preservatives and other natural hurdle systems.
• Support development and refinement of HACCP plans and food safety documentation for commercialized products.
• Investigate root causes of shelf life and quality issues, including microbiological risk, texture change, oxidation, package interaction, and formulation-process interaction.
• Work across QA, R&D, and operations to improve formulations, processes, product performance, and speed to commercialization.

MUST-HAVE BACKGROUND

• Degree in Food Science, Food Microbiology, Food Engineering, or a closely related field.
• Expert-level experience in refrigerated ready meal shelf life validation and food safety.
• Strong hands-on experience with pasteurization and lethality-based processing, especially sous vide and cook-in-pouch systems.
• Working knowledge of hot fill soups and sauces.
• Experience writing technical reports for major retail customers and translating data into clear customer-ready conclusions.
• Strong understanding of sensory shelf life parameters and how to build scientifically defensible validation approaches.
• Strong understanding of HACCP, GMPs, food safety systems, and applied microbiology.
• Clear communicator who can work effectively with QA, operations, product development, and external customers.

STRONGLY PREFERRED

• Experience with clean label systems and natural preservatives, including retailer-driven ingredient standards.
• Experience in frozen foods, refrigerated prepared foods, or multi-component ready meals.
• Comfort designing validation plans, challenge studies, and shelf life protocols that hold up to customer scrutiny.
• Track record of solving technical problems in a fast-moving, growth-oriented manufacturing environment.

THE KIND OF PERSON WHO WILL WIN HERE

You are technically sharp, commercially credible, and practical. You know how to make the science useful. You can move from microbiological risk to sensory shelf life to customer-facing reporting without losing rigor. You do not wait to be told where the risk is - you see it, explain it, and help the team solve it.

Northwest Frozen is an equal opportunity employer.

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