Food 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.

Great products start with great science. This is where you come in.

As a Food Scientist on McCain's Global Innovation Platforms team, you will design, develop, and execute the experimental work that brings innovative products to life, moving projects from concept to commercialization across our Potato and Global Snacking categories.

This is a role built for a scientist with strong foundations in ingredient functionality, formulation, and processing who is ready to take real ownership, deepen their technical expertise, and grow. You will translate project objectives into sharp experimental designs, generate reliable data, and build the documentation that supports feasible, food-safe product solutions, all within a collaborative, high-calibre team environment. You will also begin to stretch beyond the bench, providing guidance to newer team members and representing the voice of Product Development in cross-functional project teams.

This role is for you if you:

• Have a solid grounding in formulation, ingredients, processing and want to go deeper
• Take pride in rigorous, well-executed science
• Are ready to own your work and grow your impact
• Thrive in a collaborative environment where your ideas and findings genuinely matter

What you’ll be doing.

1. Technical Execution & Experimentation: You will design and execute experiments that move projects forward, translating objectives into sharp experimental designs using DOE, questioning technical assumptions, and applying statistical analysis to make quality decisions. From DVF analysis to applying your knowledge of ingredients, formulation, and processing, your science will be the engine of progress.
2. Product & Process Development: You will develop new concepts and prototypes, support the evolution of scalable product platforms, and build food safety and regulatory standards into everything you create. You will coordinate plant-scale trials, maintain product specifications and technical documentation, and partner with Technical Services, Operations, and Engineering to optimise processes and resolve challenges.
3. Project Execution & Delivery: You will own the details of your assigned projects, timelines, priorities, risks, and outcomes. You will build practical mitigation plans, keep stakeholders informed with clear communication, and keep a close eye on cost parameters and business levers like COGS to ensure your work delivers real commercial value.
4. Collaboration, Growth & Capability Building: You will build strong relationships across R&D and the wider business, interface with suppliers and customers, and contribute technical input to commercial and marketing conversations. You will share knowledge generously, support newer team members, and bring multiple perspectives into your thinking. Above all, you will stay curious, actively seeking feedback and continuously deepening your technical expertise.

What you’ll need to be successful.

Education & Experience: A degree in Food Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related field (BS or MS), with 3+ years of product development or food science experience in food, CPG, or manufacturing.

The Way You Work: You manage project details with confidence, deliver against timelines, and communicate technical findings clearly to any audience. You collaborate well across functions and cultures, bring a commercial mindset to your work, and are comfortable navigating ambiguity and evolving scope. You are organised, detail-oriented, and keep excellent records, but beyond the practicalities, you bring genuine curiosity, a positive attitude, and a real passion for innovation. You are willing to push beyond what is comfortable and grow through the process.

Your Technical Toolkit: Strong experimental design capability, including DOE, data interpretation, and statistical analysis. Sound knowledge of food ingredients and their interaction with processing and packaging. Working knowledge of GMP, HACCP, food safety, and the full product development lifecycle. Familiarity with food regulations, labelling requirements, and nutritional standards. Understanding of bench-to-pilot-to-factory scale-up, working in partnership with manufacturing and engineering teams. Confidence applying mathematical and statistical techniques to analyse and present data.

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.