Principal R&D Scientist-Sausage

Role Summary: Pilgrim’s Research & Development is seeking a Principal Scientist to join our team in Greeley, CO at our Corporate Headquarters. This person will be a senior technical leader within R&D responsible for driving innovation, product development, commercialization, and process improvements across multiple sausage product platforms. This role leads complex initiatives that support business growth, manufacturing startups, and operational optimization. As part of the company’s technical leadership track, the position emphasizes expertise, innovation, and cross-functional influence rather than direct people management. The role reflects the organization’s commitment to strengthening technical excellence and advanced R&D capabilities. The ideal candidate is a highly experienced, hands-on expert in sausage formulation, processing technologies, and commercialization. They must be able to guide projects from development through manufacturing startup while serving as a trusted technical resource across the business. Through deep technical knowledge and collaborative leadership, this individual will help advance the company’s sausage product and process capabilities.

Our ideal candidate will sit in our Greeley, CO Corporate Headquarters.

Responsibilities:

• Lead end-to-end sausage product development from concept through commercialization, ensuring products meet targets for flavor, texture, yield, shelf life, food safety, and cost.
• Leverage deep expertise in sausage formulation, emulsion systems, ingredient functionality, and processing technologies to optimize products and manufacturing processes.
• Drive innovation and reduce commercialization risk through ingredient research, evaluation of emerging technologies, and data-driven experimentation.
• Lead scale-up, pilot, plant trial, and commercialization activities to successfully transition products from development to full-scale manufacturing.
• Drive manufacturing startups and production ramp-ups, troubleshooting technical and operational challenges to ensure smooth implementation.
• Partner cross-functionally with Operations, Quality, Engineering, Regulatory, Supply Chain, and Commercial teams to deliver successful product launches.
• Support the commissioning, optimization, and scalability of new equipment, processing systems, and manufacturing capabilities while ensuring technical readiness throughout development.
• Serve as the technical authority for sausage product and process development, establishing best practices in formulation, process optimization, product performance, and manufacturing startup.
• Build organizational capability by mentoring scientists, engineers, and cross-functional teams while strengthening technical rigor and problem-solving expertise.
• Influence technical strategy and drive cross-functional alignment through collaboration, deep expertise, and data-driven decision-making.
• Support development of scalable and differentiated product platforms across multiple business channels
• Partner with cross-functional teams to identify opportunities for revenue growth, margin improvement, and operational efficiency
• Contribute technical expertise to customer engagements, innovation initiatives, and commercialization planning
• Maintain awareness of industry trends, emerging technologies, competitive activity, and evolving consumer preferences within protein and prepared foods categories
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Meat Science, Food Science, Chemical Engineering, Food Engineering, or related discipline required
• With Bachelors degree: 12-15 years in the industry strongly preferred
• With Masters degree: 8+ years of industry experience strongly preferred
• Extensive experience in sausage product development, including formulation, meat systems, ingredient functionality, and processing technologies.
• Strong background in R&D, commercialization, pilot production, manufacturing scale-up, and plant startup activities.
• Expertise in sausage processing methods, including grinding, mixing, stuffing, thermal processing, chilling, packaging, and yield optimization.
• Solid understanding of food safety, HACCP, sanitary equipment design, and commercialization readiness.
• Proven ability to solve complex technical and operational challenges in manufacturing environments while driving process improvements.
• Strong self-directed leader who thrives in fast-paced environments, effectively managing multiple priorities while operating with a high degree of autonomy.
• Excellent collaborator and communicator with an entrepreneurial mindset, skilled at building processes, driving cross-functional partnerships, and creating structure in evolving organizations.
• Ability to travel 50% to our facilities in IA
• Can perform the functions of the job with or without a reasonable accommodation
• As a salaried position with the company, you may be required to travel at some point to other facilities, to attend Company events, or as a representative of the Company in other situations. Unless otherwise specified in this posting, the amount of travel may vary and the most qualified candidate must be willing and able to travel as business needs dictate

The applicant who fills this position will be eligible for the following compensation and benefits:

• Benefits: Vision, Medical, and Dental coverage begin after 60 days of employment;
• Paid Time Off: sick leave, vacation, and 6 company observed holidays;
• 401(k): company match begins after the first year of service and follows the company vesting schedule;
• Base salary range of $125,000-$150,000
• Incentive Pay: This position is eligible to participate in the Company’s annual bonus plan, the amount of bonus varies and is subject to the standard terms and conditions of the incentive program; and
• Career Development: Our company is dedicated to supporting professional growth by offering continuous learning opportunities and a focus on career growth through various learning and development programs.

The posted salary range represents the Company’s good faith estimate of the compensation that the Company reasonably expects to pay for this role at the time of posting. Actual compensation will be determined based on factors including, but not limited to, relevant experience, skills, qualifications, tenure, internal equity, market data, and may vary accordingly.

This position does not have an application deadline. We will continue to recruit until the position has been filled.

The Company is dedicated to ensuring a safe and secure environment for our team members and visitors. To assist in achieving that goal, we conduct drug, alcohol, and background checks for all new team members post-offer and prior to the start of employment. The Immigration Reform and Control Act requires that verification of employment eligibility be documented for all new employees by the end of the third day of work.

About us: Pilgrim’s is a leading global food company with more than 62,000 team members worldwide. The company processes, prepares, packages, and delivers fresh, frozen, and value-added food products for customers in more than 100 countries. Pilgrim’s operates protein processing plants and prepared foods facilities in 14 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the U.K, the Republic of Ireland and continental Europe. Pilgrim’s is headquartered in beautiful Greeley, Colorado, at the JBS USA corporate office where our 1,200 employees enjoy more than 300 days of sunshine a year.

Our mission: To be the best in all that we do, completely focused on our business, ensuring the best products and services to our customers, a relationship of trust with our suppliers, profitability for our shareholders and the opportunity of a better future for all of our team members.

Our core values are: Availability, Determination, Discipline, Humility, Ownership, Simplicity, Sincerity

EOE, including disability/vets

Unsolicited Assistance: JBS and its companies do not accept unsolicited assistance from any recruitment vendors for any of our open jobs. All resumes or candidate profiles submitted by recruitment vendors or headhunters to any employee at JBS and its companies or via the applicant tracking system, in any form without a valid written request and search agreement previously approved by HR, will be solely owned by JBS and its companies. No fees will be paid should the candidate be hired by JBS and its companies