RTD Beverage Quality & Food Safety Contractor

OVERALL FUNCTION:

This role is part-time, with up to 20 hours per week. Light travel may be required (1-3 weeks).

The Ready to Drink (RTD) Quality & Food Safety Contractor will play a crucial role in the company's efforts to commercialize a Ready to Drink Coffee beverage. Responsible for leading quality and food safety process development of a line of RTD coffee beverages containing coffee, milk and possibly flavors. The candidate should bring a minimum of 7 years of food safety and quality assurance experience and possess a strong educational background in food science, chemistry, heat processing, or industry equivalent. The successful candidate will have a working knowledge of processing technologies, testing methods, and 3rd party labs which perform the analysis needed. In addition, managing external partners and collaborating with cross-functional teams.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide knowledge of food safety and quality technologies available for RTD coffee manufacturing, which includes dairy ingredients.

• Maintain a working knowledge of current processing options considering technologies, ingredients, processes, &/or equipment within the ready to drink industry which includes bottling and canning.

• Provide process recommendations to technical teams throughout the development phase to establish design criteria and identify design limitations.

• General knowledge of food safety and regulatory requirements especially related to low acid beverages and dairy processing.

• Monitor bench-top & manufacturing scale-up batches. Develop and implement analytical test methods to validate product quality and product stability, including separation and precipitation over shelf life of the product.

• Analyze and interpret QA and Food Safety data to drive technical understanding, meet project targets and objectives, problem solve, and make recommendations that drive food safety & quality, and manage risk.

• Collaborate closely with Beverage Development, Compliance & Regulatory, and Corporate QA teams.

• Communicate effectively with internal stakeholders and external processors to development QA and Food Safety milestones including anticipated timelines.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• 7+ years of experience in quality and food safety of RTD beverage processing which includes coffee and dairy experience.

• General knowledge of new technologies, beverage manufacturing efficiency, quality, and food safety principles.

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in food science, Chemistry, Engineering or Food Science or equivalent industry experience.

• Previous experience leading quality and food safety activities within RTD product development is required.

• Able to work independently and with Internal team and external co-manufacturers.

• Leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills in a collaborative team environment both internal and external to Peets.

• Process Authority Certification, a plus.

Peet's Home Office is a Hybrid worksite, which requires any Home Office employees to work onsite (Emeryville, CA) 3 days per week with the exception of any fully-remote role.

At Peet's we hire the best people and are committed to supporting our employees and rewarding them for their work. The target hourly range for this position is $60.00 - 80.00. The actual base salary offered depends on a variety of factors, which may include, as applicable, the applicant's qualifications for the position; years of relevant experience; specific and unique skills; level of education attained; certifications or other professional licenses held; other legitimate, non-discriminatory business factors specific to the position; and the geographic location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will perform the job. Peet's offers a generous benefits package to full-time employees, which includes comprehensive health, dental and vision plans; a superior 401(k) plan, various paid time off programs; employee discount/perks; life insurance; disability insurance; flexible spending accounts; and an employee referral bonus program