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.

Application Closing Date
15th November, 2021.