How To Become A Senior Food Scientist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior food scientist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Chris Sigler

Senior food scientists work in research and development, regulatory, processing and, quality assurance areas. Choosing one of these areas usually guides your career path. You might work in one area for a while and then move onto another specialization. There may be some career overlap, too, allowing you to work in multiple areas simultaneously.

Your job responsibilities will depend upon your food science specialization. For example, if you work in quality assurance, then your job is to monitor food production and ensure that food-making processes are working correctly. You'll also analyze the food to determine the number of nutrients, sugars, vitamins, and fats so manufacturers can adequately label the food.

You'll need a bachelor's degree in food science, agricultural science, or a similar major to get into the food processing industry. Entry-level research positions usually require a master's degree, while senior research positions need a doctorate.

Your salary as a senior food scientist will likely depend on the industry you decide to go into. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that senior food scientists in all sectors had a mean annual wage of $92,570

What general advice would you give to a senior food scientist?

Dr. Chris Sigler

Assistant Teaching Professor/Academic Advisor, Pennsylvania State University

I would stress that food is a commonality all humans share. The education and skill set acquired in a Food Science Degree are going to be needed, more than ever, moving forward, to critically examine and analyze how to approach new concerns and opportunities left in the wake of the pandemic.

Being able to adapt and modify how to connect, collaborate, and share information and resources to better themselves, their colleagues, their employers, and the field of food science, in general, will be critical moving forward.

ScoreSenior Food ScientistUS Average

Salary

5.7

Avg. Salary $72,882

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.4

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.24%

Asian 12.28%

Black or African American 4.10%

Hispanic or Latino 8.24%

Unknown 2.75%

White 72.38%

Gender

female 47.22%

male 52.78%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior food scientist

Explore senior food scientist education requirements

Most common senior food scientist degrees

Bachelor's

63.9 %

Master's

22.2 %

Associate

9.7 %

Start to develop specific senior food scientist skills

Skills	Percentages
Product Development	15.55%
Culinary	8.98%
Food Processing	8.92%
Food Products	8.33%
R	7.92%

Complete relevant senior food scientist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior food scientists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior food scientist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior food scientist resumes.

Research senior food scientist duties and responsibilities

Manage sample inventory via in-house laboratory information management system (LIMS) and implement additional systems for sample and chemical organization.
Work closely with local government agencies as well as USDA, GIPSA, FDA, USWA and CWB.
Participate on HACCP team for high acid beverages.
Maintain continuous improvement effort on HACCP system within manufacturing.

Get senior food scientist experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior food scientist. The most common roles before becoming a senior food scientist include food scientist, food technologist team lead and product development scientist.

Prepare your senior food scientist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior food scientist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior food scientist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable senior food scientist resume templates

Build a professional senior food scientist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your senior food scientist resume.