Food Science Associate

The Farmer’s Dog was born from a mission to change the landscape of pet health, providing dogs and their humans with honest, smart, and simple care. We’re starting by radically improving the $90 billion pet food industry, replacing bags of highly-processed pellets with a personalized subscription service that sends complete and balanced, freshly-made dog food directly to customers’ doors. Our ultimate goal is to create innovative, delightful and personalized experiences across all aspects of pet care, and we believe our direct-to-consumer business model, holistic approach to growth, and dynamic culture uniquely position us to shepherd this backwards industry into the future.
To date, The Farmer’s Dog has delivered over 1 billion meals nationwide and raised over $150M in funding to help us build a company as healthy as the dogs who are eating those meals. Join us as we continue to develop ways of bringing peace of mind to customers, health to their companions, and much-needed change to the way people feed and care for their pets.

#LongLiveDogs

The Associate Food Scientist will report directly to the Senior Food Scientist and will play an essential supporting role across the food science function. This is a hands-on role focused on keeping experiments, trials, and projects moving, from coordinating documentation and managing sample requests to tracking timelines and supporting cross-functional communication. The Associate Food Scientist will be an organized, proactive contributor who helps the team execute with speed and rigor.

One Team: We don’t think of ourselves as “Acquisition Marketers”, “Engineers”, “Data Analysts”, or “Product Managers”. Beyond denoting skill sets and areas of expertise, we don’t think departments matter. We’d rather align ourselves to the goals we’re working to achieve and make sure we have necessary subject matter expertise to drive meaningful impact. We strive to orient ourselves around customer problems TOGETHER – getting the right people, with the right context, in the right rooms/Zooms to solve problems holistically.

We are skeptical about everything and precious about nothing:  Ideas can and should come from anywhere, and we aren’t tied to our own. We proactively source input. We talk to our customers and leads regularly and are quick to change course if we know there’s a better or more impactful way to solve problems.

We consider the customer journey in all of our decisions:  We know that no interaction exists in a silo and therefore understand how important every single one is.  We ensure our strategy sets prospective and new customers up for success and drives long-term retention.  We answer questions and address problems early and proactively.  We understand the value of different channels, initiatives, and messages and know how to articulate impact and advocate for prioritization holistically.

We Execute For Impact: We don’t subscribe to “best practices” or “industry KPIs”. We’re uninterested in how we compare to “benchmarks”; instead we orient ourselves around being the best we can possibly be. Similarly, we don’t subscribe to rigid or classical expectations of roles – i.e. acquisition is hyper-focused on improving customer retention and experience.

We Are Focused and Work Without Assumption: We are not beholden to ideas. We have goals and believe everything beyond that is a series of hypotheses to validate. To that end, we seek to work in sequence and not in parallel. We constantly ask ourselves, “what’s the most important hypothesis I should be working on right now? How do I confirm or reject that hypothesis as fast as possible?”. We rarely have timelines/deadlines and are constantly taking in new information and adjusting our priorities accordingly. We don’t expect to be perfect the first time.

• Coordinate and track the progress of food science experiments, plant trials, and product development projects, ensuring key milestones and timelines are clearly documented and communicated.
• Manage sample requests end-to-end, including packaging, labeling, and shipping samples to internal teams, external partners, and testing facilities.
• Maintain and organize technical documentation including formulations, specifications, trial results, and ingredient records.
• Support cross-functional communication by preparing updates, meeting notes, and summaries for internal stakeholders across Manufacturing, Operations, Product, and Veterinary Relations.
• Assist with pilot facility activities including equipment maintenance, sanitation, and ingredient inventory management.
• Compile and organize data from nutrient analyses, feeding trials, and plant trials to support review and interpretation by senior team members.
• Assist in drafting and updating ingredient, WIP, and finished product specifications.
• Support coordination of academic and external research partnerships.
• Help identify and flag project risks, bottlenecks, or gaps in documentation proactively.

• You have a Bachelor's Degree (or higher) in Food Science, Animal Science, Nutrition, or a related field.
• You have 1-3 years of experience in a food science, R&D, or related technical role. Experience with pet food product development preferred. 
• You are highly organized and thrive on keeping projects on track; you notice when things are slipping and take initiative to get them back on course.
• You are a clear and proactive communicator who keeps the right people informed without being asked.
• You love to dig into the details and take pride in accurate, well-maintained documentation.
• You are able to thrive in a fast-paced and ambiguous environment, naturally curious and proactive self-starter, constantly on the lookout for new opportunities and solutions.
• You're an owner, have excellent problem-solving skills, and can prioritize tasks effectively, with a strong attention to detail.
• You're a skilled communicator with the ability to absorb and distill complexity into simple terms to drive decision making.
• You are capable of lifting/moving 50+ lbs.
• You love dogs.

We are an in-office culture, made of in-office people who thrive on the collaboration and magnetism of working in a shared space. We are seeking individuals who excel in this type of environment, where being present fosters deeper connections and engagement. We ask all team members to be in office 4 - 5 days a week to build a collaborative and invested environment to foster our unique in-person culture we are proud to have. This office policy is subject to change at company discretion.

At TFD, we believe Belonging is a shared commitment to creating a workplace where every person feels respected, valued, and empowered to be themselves. When people feel a true sense of belonging, they do their best work, take smart risks, and bring forward diverse perspectives — leading to stronger decisions and deeper relationships.
We anchor this belief in a simple phrase: “Everyone’s welcome at the dog park.” No matter your background, identity, or role, there’s space for you here. There’s no one way to show up at the dog park— just shared space, mutual respect, and the freedom to be yourself. Being included is just the beginning, it’s about contributing your voice, growing through challenges, and building trust through shared goals. This philosophy guides how we lead, how we hire, how we communicate, and how we grow.
                    
We continuously evaluate to ensure we are creating a consistent experience that cultivates belonging for all employees, from hiring and performance reviews to talent development. We also believe Belonging happens in everyday moments of connection; lunch with a new teammate, a shared laugh, or a quick story about your weekend. Our structure includes biannual employee surveys, manager training, TFD camps, and support from Humans to ensure we’re listening and learning from our Team.

Together, these efforts reflect what Belonging means at TFD: a culture where everyone can thrive.

• Dog-friendly office in SoHo
• Market-competitive compensation and equity packages
• Comprehensive Healthcare, Dental, and Vision
• Company supported mental health benefits
• 12 week paid parental leave
• Competitive 401k plan with company match
• Flexible PTO 
• Discounted fresh food for your pup
• Your pet interrupting video calls (and in-person meetings) is now a feature, not a bug

The Farmer's Dog, Inc. is an equal employment opportunity employer and does not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status or any other legally protected characteristic or status. For more information, please visit Know Your Rights.

TFD complies with applicable federal, state, and local disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities.  If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact [email protected].

We’re happy to answer any questions you may have about the position or our hiring process - please reach out at [email protected].