Sr. Product Development Scientist in Scarborough

In every role, McCainers are ambitious, curious, and passionate about creating exceptional work experiences - together. With a customer-first mindset, we make doing business with McCain easy.

About the role. If you get excited turning bold ideas into products that end up on plates worldwide, this is the role for you.

As a Senior Product Development Scientist in McCain's Global Innovation team, you will lead the development and commercialisation of next-generation products across our Potato and Global Snacking categories, owning projects from concept to launch, with your fingerprints on every milestone.

Bringing deep expertise in formulation, ingredient functionality, and processing, you will translate consumer and customer insights into technically excellent, commercially compelling products, whether that is a breakthrough innovation, a smart renovation, or a category step-change.

You will be a cross-functional force, influencing global and regional stakeholders, representing Product Development in key forums, and building your external industry profile. You will also mentor newer team members and contribute to R&D capability building — with the potential to be recognised as a local, regional, or global technical SME.

What you’ll be doing:

• Front-End Innovation & Platform Development: You will identify and shape innovation opportunities — from renovation and cost-advantage initiatives to scalable product platforms — grounded in consumer, culinary, and technology insights. Working closely with Sensory UX, Insights, Commercial, Marketing, and Advanced Technology, you will translate ideas into technically sound concepts with clear feasibility pathways, while staying sharp on market trends, emerging technologies, and the competitive landscape.
• Technical & Scientific Leadership: You will lead technical execution across multiple projects — from formulation through to commercialization — applying deep expertise in ingredients, process, and packaging to solve complex development challenges. You will design targeted experiments using DOE, challenge assumptions with rigour, and partner with internal teams and external suppliers to hit performance, cost, and quality targets. Keeping current with advances in food science is part of the job.
• Project & Portfolio Execution: You will own your projects — timelines, deliverables, risks, and outcomes. You will proactively identify barriers, build mitigation plans, and communicate progress clearly to cross-functional stakeholders and senior leaders, ensuring technical execution stays aligned with business priorities and financial viability.
• Collaboration, Influence & Capability Building: You will influence without authority, mentor junior scientists, and bring a collaborative, solutions-first mindset to every interaction. From supporting customer presentations and co-creating with Culinary, to resolving manufacturing issues and leading raw material approvals — you will be a trusted partner across the business. You will also begin building your external profile and consistently share knowledge and learnings across the team.

What you’ll need to be successful:

• Education & Experience: A degree in Food Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related field (BS or MS), backed by 5+ years of hands-on product development experience in food, CPG, or manufacturing.
• The Way You Work: You lead projects independently and deliver results. You communicate technical complexity with clarity, influence without authority, and collaborate seamlessly across functions, regions, and cultures. You balance consumer desirability, technical feasibility, and commercial reality and you are comfortable doing so in ambiguous, fast-moving environments. You learn quickly, adapt readily, and have the courage to challenge the status quo when it matters. Detail-oriented and well-organised, you bring a positive, solution-first mindset and a genuine passion for innovation.
• Your Technical Toolkit: Deep expertise in ingredient functionality, formulation, process, and packaging — and how they interconnect. Strong experimental design capability, including DOE, data interpretation, and root cause analysis. Solid grounding in GMP, HACCP, food safety, and the full product development lifecycle. Working knowledge of food regulations, labelling laws, and nutritional requirements. Proven scale-up mastery, with the ability to anticipate and address manufacturing and engineering considerations early. Familiarity with IP and contract terminology and its commercial implications. A data-driven approach to development decisions, with a continuous improvement mindset.

Leadership principles. At McCain, our leadership principles guide how we engage with customers, collaborate as a team, and achieve success. We focus on understanding customer needs, driving innovation, empowering people, and taking ownership to clear obstacles and deliver results.

Location: Scarborough: You’ll be based at our Scarborough plant in North Yorkshire. We opened this plant back in the swinging sixties, but it’s definitely not stuck in the past. It’s one of the largest French fry factories in the world and after a recent development, it’s also one of the most high tech. Our team of over 300 colleagues work hard to make sure the quality of our products keep our customers returning for more, for now and years to come!

The McCain experience. We are McCain. This statement is a testament to our collective strength and our individual value. Your contributions play a vital role in our success. Our winning culture is rooted in authenticity and trust, empowering us to bring out the best in one another. Here, you’ll find opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive. Join us and experience why we’re better together.

Our purpose is grounded in building meaningful relationships. We’re big believers in the power of working together in person—it helps us stay connected, collaborate more effectively, and grow as a team. At the same time, we recognize the importance of flexibility. Most office-based roles follow a hybrid model, with the option to work remotely two days a week. There may be exceptions depending on the role and location, so we encourage you to speak with your recruiter for more details.

McCain Foods is an equal opportunity employer. As a global family-owned company, we strive to be the employer of choice in the diverse communities around the world in which we live and work. We recognize that inclusion drives our creativity, resilience, and success and makes our business stronger. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

McCain is an accessible employer. If you require an accommodation throughout the recruitment process (including alternate formats of materials or accessible meeting rooms), please let us know and we will work with you to find appropriate solutions.

Your privacy is important to us. By submitting personal data or information to us, you agree this will be handled in accordance with McCain’s Global Privacy Policy and Global Employee Privacy Policy, as applicable. McCain leverages AI in the hiring process, though all final decisions are made by humans. You can understand our approach to AI and how your personal information is being handled here.