Flavourist at Robert Walters

• A leading global organisation in the flavour and fragrance industry is seeking a Senior Flavourist to join their team in Alberton. This role offers you the opportunity to shape the future of food innovation, fragrances, and wellbeing solutions by leveraging your expertise in flavour creation and development. You will be part of a diverse network of over 17,000 professionals worldwide, where your passion and commitment to excellence will make a positive impact on billions of lives.
• As a Senior Flavourist based in Alberton, you will play a pivotal role in driving successful flavour development projects from conception through execution. Your day-to-day responsibilities will involve preparing samples tailored to specific customer briefs or internal testing requirements; formulating innovative new flavours or modifying existing ones; evaluating raw materials; managing complex projects; resolving production challenges; mentoring junior staff; collaborating across departments; advising stakeholders; contributing to research planning; and ensuring strict adherence to safety protocols. Success in this position requires not only technical proficiency but also enthusiasm for sharing knowledge with colleagues and supporting their growth. You will thrive by embracing collaboration with cross-functional teams while maintaining high standards in laboratory practice. Your ability to connect scientific insights with practical applications will help deliver outstanding results that delight customers around the globe.
• Prepare flavour samples as requested for customer briefs, application needs, technology performance assessment, quality control standards, physical testing, and more.
• Formulate new flavour creations or modify existing flavours to meet customer requirements, internal testing needs, or new technology development across multiple flavour types.
• Participate in the evaluation of materials developed internally or sourced externally to assess their potential for flavour creation.
• Execute daily tasks efficiently while fully managing assigned projects to provide flavours that meet all defined project needs including good manufacturing practices, sample scale-up, production requirements, and regulatory compliance.
• Serve as a technical expert to resolve flavour production issues and customer complaints with complete ownership of created flavours.
• Coach, train, motivate, and mentor flavour assistants to foster skill development and teamwork within the laboratory environment.
• Engage with all areas of the company such as analytical chemistry, sensory science, consumer understanding, regulatory affairs, flavour delivery systems, and manufacturing processes.
• Act as an advisor to internal teams and external partners or customers regarding ingredient selection and flavour performance for various applications.
• Contribute actively to research discussions by making experimental observations and connecting insights across related technologies.
• Maintain a safe, clean, and organised laboratory environment in accordance with environmental health and safety policies while holding others accountable for these standards.

Your proven experience as a Senior Flavourist will be demonstrated through your academic background in food science or chemistry coupled with several years spent honing your craft post-training. You bring advanced tasting abilities that allow you to fine-tune formulations precisely according to project demands. Your deep familiarity with raw materials enables you to create flavours that consistently perform well under rigorous testing conditions. You possess strong interpersonal skills which facilitate effective communication with both customers and colleagues when discussing technical requirements or troubleshooting issues. Your understanding of regulatory frameworks ensures compliance throughout the development process. Additionally, your capacity for mentoring junior staff reflects your commitment to nurturing talent within the team. Analytical proficiency using modern laboratory techniques further supports your ability to deliver high-quality results. By combining technical expertise with empathy and collaborative spirit, you contribute positively not only within the lab but also across broader organisational initiatives.

• Polytechnic or Bachelor's Degree in Food Science, Chemistry or Biology is required for this role.
• Minimum 3-6 years of experience as a Flavourist after completion of an industry-recognised Flavourist Trainee Programme is essential.
• Expert level tasting skills combined with intermediate ability to adjust flavour formulations according to modification needs are necessary.
• Intermediate knowledge of raw materials and flavour ingredients alongside expert ability to formulate selected flavour types for customer briefs or research purposes is expected.
• Intermediate understanding of common solvent and carrier systems used in flavour creation is important.
• Ability to interface effectively with customers regarding their flavour creation needs for selected types while providing direction on performance issues is highly valued.
• Intermediate knowledge of local and regional regulatory requirements relevant to flavours is required.
• Competence in preparing and presenting complex technical presentations related to flavour creation is advantageous.
• Intermediate familiarity with application equipment, ingredients, manufacturing procedures as well as formulating suitable delivery systems for various bases is beneficial.
• Intermediate knowledge of analytical methodologies such as GC (Gas Chromatography), HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography), Mass Spectrometry is preferred along with expert understanding of manufacturing equipment and processes.