Food Scientist at Darkpore Media Africa Limited

Darkpore Media Africa is a multi-media and marketing firm building media solutions to development challenges across Africa. We are the audience company. We enable visionary organisations to reach and engage their audiences in Africa through a combination of traditional and emerging media solutions. Established in 2018 in Lagos, Nigeria, our goal is to use every resource possible: Stories! Music! Videos! Memes! Web! Big data! Live festivals! to connect and inspire communities that flourish and nourish.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Food Scientist (Project R&D Guide)

Location: Lagos
Employment Type: Full-time , up to 60 hours per week
Reports to: Project Team Lead- FoodNerve Project

Who We Want

Darkpore Media Africa seeks a dynamic and responsible Food Scientist to primarily support due diligence planning and research for a wide range of unique food projects. Working directly with the FoodNerve Project team, the Food Scientist [Project R&D Guide] in his/her primary role, supports a wide range of unique food research projects by handling the research, publication reviews, materials sourcing and bioprocess considerations required for project design and delivery.
He/she must prioritize food project planning, supervise technical design, anticipate project needs, and skillfully manage project research meetings/ online calls.
He/She will serve as the primary point of contact for internal research sites and external relationships; and as a liaison to the FoodNerve teams.
The ideal individual must be proactive, possessing a strong sense of urgency, with attention to detail.
He/She must exercise good judgment in a variety of situations, with strong scientific writing and verbal communication, research and project planning skills.

What You’ll Do

Primary Roles- Due Diligence on Project Research
Clarifying food research design and bio-process considerations.
Formulation (protein selection, plant based fats, flavoring, binders and cell-culture ingredients.
Utilizing formulation software to create and update formulations.
Protein sourcing and characterization.
Research Key ingredients isolation and functionalization.
Research Processing (Dehydration, extrusion, moulding/folding, shear cell technology, in-line monitoring, software and sensors).
Selection of technology types and optimization of moving parts
Recording, analyzing and summarizing research data.

Secondary Roles- Project Liaison:

Evaluating the nutritional value, color, flavor and texture of food with external labs.
Investigating and setting standards for safety and quality.
Ensuring that food manufacturing processes conform with government, processing, consumer and industry standards.
Study structure and composition of food, and the changes foods undergo in storage and processing.
Testing samples for particular types of moulds, yeast and bacteria that may be harmful.
Establishing low-cost wholesale food production methods.
Coordinating independent laboratory testing.
Working on new products from conceptualization to launch and exploring alternative manufacturing methods.
Assembling information for projects design, strategic planning and presentations.
Participate in research meetings to track key action items, prepare and transmit memos of follow-up plans.
Handle phone and email inquiries by responding appropriately.
Co-ordinate onboarding of researchers and technical staff into research design, processes,and technologies.
Professionally communicate on the project team’s behalf with critical external partners.