Food Technologist

Emirates Flight Catering (EKFC) is seeking a passionate and experienced Food Technologist, to join our world-class culinary Concept Development & Research team, supporting the creation of exceptional dining experiences for our global clientele.

Job Purpose:

The job holder is responsible for leading the design, development, and optimization of food processing technologies and systems company-wide to enhance product quality, safety, and manufacturing efficiency. This includes managing scale-up from pilot to commercial production, implementing food safety and quality standards, coaching a team of food technologists, and supporting budgetary control initiatives. The purpose of the role is to deliver innovative, efficient, and compliant food solutions that meet business objectives and regulatory requirements across all operations.

Key Results Area:

1. Support Sr. Manager in managing project budgets to ensure cost control and efficiency, contributing to initiatives that impact the Company's operational expenses and overall budgets.
2. Design, develop, and optimize food processing systems and machinery for new and existing products to enhance quality and manufacturing efficiency across diverse lines, including bakery, processed meats, and frozen ready-to-eat meals.
3. Lead research and implementation of product preservation strategies including re-formulation, process optimization, and packaging interventions to extend shelf-life while maintaining sensory attributes and microbiological safety.
4. Provide technical expertise for key food manufacturing processes, leveraging engineering principles to optimize parameters for mixing, freezing, heat transfer, mass transfer, refrigeration, and preservation and maintain food quality and safety.
5. Manage the scale-up of products from pilot plant to full-scale commercial production, ensuring consistency and efficiency.
6. Develop and implement food processing technologies that incorporate quality and food safety procedures (QMS, QA, QC, HACCP, GMPs) as defined within the Company.
7. Collaborate cross-functionally with Nutritionists, Microbiologists, Production Chefs, and Operations teams to ensure product quality, nutritional integrity, and process efficiency, while integrating food safety, nutrition labelling, and quality standards into all development and production activities.
8. Identify, analyse, and lead process improvement projects to enhance yield, minimize waste, optimize resource utilization, and strengthen the safety and efficiency of production lines.
9. Design, maintain and optimise detailed food process specifications, equipment parameters and workflows to maximize efficiency, safety and sanitation by ensuring compliance with established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
10. Manage and develop a team of food technologists to enhance their technical expertise, manage project workloads, and support their career development.

Minimum Education, Experience & Skills:

Education Qualification:

1. Bachelor's degree in food engineering, Food Process Engineering, or a related field.
2. Master's degree preferred.

Work Experience:

1. Minimum 7 years of experience in a food processing / engineering role within a Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)/Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) environment.
2. Proven experience in managing and developing a technical team and project budget management.
3. Aviation Catering, hospitality experience will be an added advantage.

Skills:

1. Strong technical expertise in fluid dynamics, heat transfer, mass transfer, freezing, refrigeration, and thermodynamics in food processing.
2. Solid knowledge of food science, microbiology, and food safety standards.
3. Proven analytical and problem-solving ability in complex process environments.
4. Effective project management and multitasking skills.
5. Innovative mindset for developing and improving processing techniques.
6. High attention to detail with strong compliance focus.
7. Clear and collaborative communicator across teams.