About This Opportunity

We are looking for a new team member with experience in food manufacture, processing and/or development to join our team and provide this specialist technical expertise in support of high-quality research outcomes at all stages of the research, development and innovation life-cycle.

Projects include those seeking to enhance the nutritional properties and sustainability credentials of animal and plant-based foods while maintaining consumer acceptability, spanning products like beverages, burgers and nutrient dense snack foods with minimal ingredients. It is anticipated that the researcher will perform food product and/or process development, and it may include utilising lab- and pilot-scale twin screw extruders.

A key aspect to the role is engaging collaboratively to deliver outcomes that support FaBA in accelerating new product / ingredient / processing opportunities for the benefit of Australian industry and consumers.

Responsibilities

• Applies specialist technical skills or knowledge to research activities, including food and beverage product/ingredient development, processing, manufacture and/or characterisation.
• Implements research results and new knowledge from science and engineering.
• Assist in the development and management of research, development and innovation projects and technologies.
• Support the management of food laboratory operations.
• Assist in managing projects to deliver against milestones and meet expectation of stakeholders.

Safety

• Ensures food safe practices are exercised and maintained within the food laboratory.
• Ensures a high standard of research housekeeping, waste disposal, sample storage and chemical/ingredient/sample inventory management.
• Assists with developing a proactive safety culture and implement continuous improvement.
• Under broad direction, sets up, monitors and demonstrates standard experiments and equipment use.
• Coordinates maintenance of instruments/equipment to ensure optimal performance.

Research and Administrative Support

• Assists with the development of research/analytical/processing protocols.
• Maintains accurate records of experiments or technical activities and results/outcomes.
• Designs testing procedures and coordinate to identify problems and solutions.
• Contributes to research outputs and preparation of reports/manuscripts.
• Other duties, as reasonable directed by the supervisor.

About the Food and Beverage Accelerator

Australia’s Food and Beverage Accelerator (FaBA) is a $160 million initiative to boost growth and innovation in the food and beverage manufacturing sector. Part of the Federal Government’s Trailblazer Program, FaBA leverages $50m of government investment with more than $110m from universities and industry. Partners work across four areas: the research programs ‘Innovative Ingredients’ and ‘Premium Food and Beverage Products’, and the enabling programs ‘Innovation Pathways’ and the ‘FaBA Training Centre’.

A national initiative, FaBA provides F&B manufacturers access to research teams, next generation industry professionals, state-of-the-art equipment and pilot facilities. FaBA is proudly hosted by The University of Queensland, in collaboration with participants QUT, UniSQ and UniQuest.

About You

• Completion of a relevant degree in Food Technology, Food Science, Food Engineering or Chemical Engineering or similar.
• Significant experience of working in manufacturing / food production environment, or in a relevant research and development environment, is highly desirable.
• Advanced technical capabilities in food processing, food development, and/or extrusion processing highly desirable.
• Knowledge of nutrition science and regulatory frameworks is desirable.
• Detailed knowledge of legislative requirements and operating procedures for research, food production, and food safety, including development of standard operating procedures, waste disposal, labelling and risk assessments.
• Relevant experience in a research, development and innovation preferably in area of food and beverages or the capability to quickly acquire this knowledge and apply in the workplace.
• Well-developed problem-solving skills, with an ability to forward plan, prioritise tasks to meet deadlines and work with a high level of adaptability, both independently and as part of a team.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with proven ability to produce clear, succinct documentation.
• The ability to liaise effectively with a wide range of stakeholders in a research environment.