R&D Dairy Microbiologist

Role Overview

The R&D Dairy Microbiologist will collaborate closely with the R&D Dairy Technologist and production team to facilitate product development and scaling. This position centers on selecting cultures, fermentation processes, microbiological analysis, contamination control, and assessing shelf-life and probiotic stability for frozen and fermented dairy products.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify and assess starter and probiotic cultures used in yogurt, frozen yogurt, and fermented dairy items.
• Conduct microbiological examinations of raw materials, water, cultures, trial batches, and final products.
• Monitor microbiological status of equipment, production areas, and environmental sources.
• Design and execute studies to evaluate shelf-life, culture viability, storage stability, and freeze-thaw effects.
• Investigate microbiological contamination and failures, providing recommendations for corrective measures.
• Assist with product trials and scale-up efforts by developing SOPs, sampling regimes, and hygiene protocols.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Master’s degree in Microbiology, Food Microbiology, Dairy Microbiology, Biotechnology, or related disciplines.
• 3 to 7 years of hands-on microbiology experience in dairy, yogurt, fermented foods, ice cream, or frozen desserts.
• In-depth knowledge of starter cultures, probiotics, yeast, moulds, coliforms, and foodborne pathogens.
• Practical skills in performing total plate counts, yeast and mould testing, coliform and pathogen detection, and culture enumeration.
• Experience in conducting shelf-life analysis, monitoring environments, and handling contamination investigations.
• Capability to independently design experiments, analyze data, and support production scale-up processes.

Preferred Additional Experience

• Familiarity with frozen yogurt, probiotic dairy items, ice cream, or similar frozen desserts.
• Understanding of probiotic survival mechanisms during freezing, cold storage, and product shelf-life.
• Expertise in selecting and optimizing starter or probiotic cultures.
• Exposure to advanced microbiological techniques such as challenge studies, PCR, ELISA, or rapid testing methods.
• Experience in establishing food or dairy microbiology laboratories.
• Knowledge of regulatory and quality standards including FSSAI, GMP, GHP, HACCP, and NABL lab coordination.

Who Should Apply

• Microbiologists with relevant practical experience in dairy, fermented, probiotic, or frozen food production.
• Individuals with strong laboratory and food manufacturing backgrounds.
• Professionals capable of supporting product development, food safety validation, and contamination investigations.
• Self-motivated candidates comfortable working in a startup and factory environment.
• Applicants willing to relocate and work full-time on-site in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh.

Note: Candidates lacking direct dairy or food industry microbiology experience may not be suitable for this role.