Programme Officer - Health and Nutrition

Key responsibilities

• Product Formulation: Develop and adapt finished applications across beverages (still, carbonated, alcoholic and dairy drinks), dairy, bakery, confectionery, savory products and sauces, balancing taste, texture, sweetness, acidity, stability and cost.
• New Product Development: Handle customer briefs from concept to industrial production, from benchmarking and bench formulation to lab samples and prototypes refined through tastings and customer feedback.
• Technology Implementation: Support the scale-up of specialized formulations, such as sugar and salt reduction technologies, from the lab to customer production.
• Technical & Customer Support: Present prototypes, run demonstrations and support customer trials and fillings on site, resolve issues such as sedimentation, separation, texture defects and flavor loss, and give the sales team practical formulation and processing advice.
• Customer-Focused R&D: Carry out bench work and sensory testing based on customer needs and market trends, keep clear formulation and trial records, and share findings with the flavor and commercial teams.
• Collaboration: Work with the wider OSF flavor and application teams, including colleagues in France, to share methods, formulations and customer learnings.

Candidate requirements

• Degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Chemistry or a related field, with 3-6 years of hands-on experience in food and beverage applications at a flavor or ingredients company, or a food and beverage manufacturer.
• Strong practical formulation skills, including pH, Brix, acidity, viscosity and sensory testing; experience across several application areas, including beverages, is an advantage.
• Experience scaling recipes from bench to production and supporting trials on customer production lines.
• Comfortable in customer-facing work, with a working knowledge of food safety standards (HACCP, FSSC 22000) and local regulatory requirements; experience with Salesforce or a similar CRM is a plus.
• Good written and spoken English; French is an advantage. Willing to travel to customer sites in the region.
• OSF Flavors East Africa.

Required skills