Senior Specialist Sensory & Product Experience Job Details | Nestle Operational Services Worldwide SA

About the Role

Key Responsibilities

• Provide consumer & sensory insights to innovation and renovation projects, including early-phase collaboration between R&D and business to leverage existing category consumer knowledge.
• Operate as a promoter of consumer perspective throughout the development process.
• Be a key consumer/sensory business partner to R&D and Business Category Leads, helping define questions and outcomes from a consumer and sensory insight perspective to add value and influence project success.
• Provide guidance on choice and use of sensory and consumer research methodologies, leading design, execution, statistical analysis, and visual storytelling to generate actionable insights for product design.
• Play an active part in cross-functional project teams from front-end innovation until launch, ensuring knowledge transfer to industrialization and advising on consumer-centric sensory specifications.
• Build and cultivate foundational knowledge of the product category and target consumer, focusing on how/why consumers perceive and interact with products to generate relevant insights.
• Develop knowledge and promote best practices for delivering taste preferences, sensory cues, and benefits to ensure effective product and package design.
• Uncover learnings from internal and external sources (trends, benchmarking, sensory mapping) to inform product and packaging design.
• Apply analytical knowledge (design of experiments, statistics) to translate consumer responses into key drivers of liking and sensory attributes.
• Lead complex consumer and sensory research projects, designing methodologies, procedures, and processes to provide key insights.
• Define plans, prioritize resources, manage studies from planning to analysis, and communicate high-level recommendations.
• Support identification and communication of risks and opportunities, working collaboratively to find solutions.
• Ensure collaboration with sensory panel leaders, technicians, and external agencies for lean and transparent execution.
• Build and leverage knowledge to identify new opportunities and guide strategy, including leading category preference mapping projects.
• Nurture relationships with external service providers to serve as an extension of the Sensory & Product Experience function.
• Drive continuous improvement and team development by developing new methods, sharing technical knowledge, and maintaining high-quality sensory panels.
• Participate in training and knowledge sharing activities, contribute to internal training, and improve competencies in markets and R&D.
• Coach junior team members to reach excellence in execution and autonomy.

Requirements

• Advanced degree (Master or higher preferred) in Sensory Science, Consumer Science, Market Research, Food Technology, Food Science, or related fields.
• PhD with minimum of 3 years of experience in sensory analysis and consumer testing techniques, or Master’s degree with at least 5+ years, or Bachelor’s degree with 7+ years of experience.
• Solid experience applying univariate and multivariate statistical methods to generate insights.
• Strong analytical, statistics, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience in statistical design of experiments is a plus.
• Experience leading trained sensory panels.
• Experience in market research with exposure to consumer testing techniques and working with research agencies.
• Experience in consumer-packaged goods, with experience in both R&D and business sides being a plus.
• Software knowledge: Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, SAP.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, with ability to translate technical data into storytelling.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Ability to work well in a team environment.
• Independently motivated.
• Good interpersonal and teamwork skills, with a sense of business/technical interrelationships.

Nice to Have

• Experience in statistical design of experiments.
• Experience in consumer-packaged goods and both R&D and business sides.
• Experience working with consumer research agencies on product testing.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree (Master or higher preferred) in relevant fields.
• PhD with minimum of 3 years or Master’s with 5+ years or Bachelor’s with 7+ years of relevant experience.

Benefits & Perks

• Not explicitly specified in the description.