Senior Sensory & Ingredient Evaluation Specialist

S'more about the team

The Product Innovation team is looking for a  Senior Sensory & Ingredient Evaluation Specialist to serve as our lead technical evaluator and procurement liaison. Reporting to the Manager, Ingredient Strategy, you will be the engine behind our ingredient excellence. While the Manager sets the portfolio vision, you are the one "under the hood", standardizing how we test, validating new supplier submissions, and ensuring that our procurement tenders result in ingredients that are both cost-effective and culinary-approved.

• NOTE: This role requires in-office attendance 4 days a week. 

Lettuce share what this role will be responsible for

• Lead Sensory Evaluation: Own the execution of sensory testing for all new ingredient submissions. You will design and facilitate "Gold Standard" cuttings, ensuring every ingredient is tasted, tested, and scored against rigorous culinary benchmarks.
• Define "Best-in-Class" Testing: Develop and refine standardized testing protocols. Whether it’s testing the meltability of a new cheese or the shelf-life stability of a sauce, you ensure our methodologies are scientific, repeatable, and scalable.
• Procurement Technical Partner: Serve as the technical point of contact for the Procurement team during RFPs and tenders. You will analyze supplier samples, provide technical scorecards, and help Procurement understand the quality trade-offs in different sourcing options.
• Ingredient Development & Iteration: Work directly with vendors to "tweak" ingredients. If a spice blend isn't quite right or a protein is losing moisture, you’ll provide the technical feedback loop to suppliers to develop a better version for our boxes.
• Data Gatekeeper: Maintain the technical integrity of our ingredient database. You will ensure that sensory data, specification sheets, and testing results are meticulously documented to inform future SKU rationalization.
• Operational Validation: Ensure ingredients don’t just taste good in a lab, but perform in the real world. You’ll coordinate "home kitchen" stress tests to simulate how our customers will actually experience the product.
• All other duties, as assigned 

Sound a-peeling? Here's what we're looking for

• 4-year degree in Food Science, Culinary Science, or a related technical field. A deep understanding of food chemistry and sensory methodology is essential.
• 3+ years of experience in Sensory Science, Food R&D, Quality Assurance, or Technical Sourcing within the food industry.
• The "Procurement Mindset": You understand the basics of supply chain and tenders; you know that a great ingredient also has to be a viable business solution.
• Technical Palate: You have formal training or significant experience in sensory evaluation (e.g., Triangle testing, Descriptive Analysis) and can articulate flavour profiles with precision.
• Project Management Skills: You can juggle multiple "cuttings" and supplier samples simultaneously without losing track of the data.
• Software Savvy: Proficiency in Excel is a must; experience with sensory software (like Compusense or RedJade) or PLM systems is a major plus.
• You are:
• A "Foodie": You are genuinely obsessed with the difference between two types of soy sauce or the viscosity of a balsamic glaze.
• Adaptable: Able to navigate complex timelines and a high-volume portfolio. 
• Collaborative: You enjoy being the "technical glue" that holds Culinary and Procurement together.
• Analytically Rigorous: You don't just say something "tastes good"—you back it up with data and standardized metrics.

Let’s cut to the cheese, this is why you'll love it here

• Box Discount - Amazing discounts on 1 box per week! 75% discount on weekly HelloFresh and Chefs Plate meal kits AND 50% off weekly Factor meal box.
• Health & Wellness - Health & Dental benefits from day 1, a Health Spending Account, unlimited access to the Headspace app to meet your self-care needs, and 25% discount on GoodLife fitness memberships!
• RRSP Matching - Competitive RRSP matching program offered
• Vacation & PTO - Time off is also an important part of self-care! We offer generous vacation and PTO to help you create a good work-life balance. 
• Family Benefits - A parental leave top-up program for expectant parents.
• Growth & Development - We support your career progression, provide development opportunities, and invest in your continued learning through our organization wide L&D fund.
• Work Hard & Have Fun - From team socials to engaging company days, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to experience the fun!
• Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives - With impactful ERG’s like FreshPride, Women Empowered and LIMES, we are committed to our diversity, equity & inclusion efforts.
• Food Puns - this one is kind of a big dill if you haven’t already noticed. We even have some punny meeting room names!

Working Conditions

It’s no surprise that as a food company, we use many ingredients that may be considered common allergens (i.e. peanuts, tree nuts, milk, etc.). Whether this role is based out of our headquarters or one of our distribution centers, it is possible that you may be exposed to such allergens in this role. If you have any concerns with being exposed to any particular food ingredients, including meat, please disclose this during the hiring process. 

HelloFresh Canada uses AI-integrated technology to help us process and evaluate applications more efficiently. This includes tools that screen and assess candidate qualifications based on the requirements for this role. While these tools assist our workflow, all final selection decisions are made by our hiring team.

This is a posting for an existing vacancy. We are actively seeking to fill this position.

Interested in joining the HelloFresh team? Don’t be chai, apply! Submit your application in PDF format today.