lab scientist looking at a magenta liquid in a glass

driven by curiosity. defined by results.

push the boundaries of what can be
achieved in a Sensient R&D career

Want to shape innovation instead of just supporting it? Then you belong on the Sensient Research & Development (R&D) team.
You’ll work in an environment that encourages experimentation, rewards curiosity, and gives you the room to grow your expertise
while creating solutions people can’t get through the day without.

everything you do will touch every life

At Sensient, your ideas don’t sit on a shelf. They show up in products found in homes, stores, and communities around the world. From the
foods families love to the personal care items they rely on, your work becomes part of the moments that shape their days and nights.

plant-based applications

Backed by decades of botanical color expertise, Sensient helps food developers create authentic raw-to-cooked transformations that boost flavor and meet clean-label expectations.

ice cream

As the market leader in frozen dessert flavors, extracts, ingredients, and formulations, we fuel the future of taste and texture.

lipsticks

With our premium pigments, bases, emollients, pearls, and fillers, we have all the ingredients to bring a show stopping lip product to life.

savory solutions

We bring together flavorist expertise and science to lead the way in savory innovation, combining cross-category insight and flavor systems to deliver bold taste and visual appeal.

Sensient is a fantastic place to get into research and development because you get to touch so many different products and work with so many different brands. If you want to take on a new challenge, you can move within the team to put your bold curiosity to work on a different project.

Hannah Kirsitz
Application Scientist

within R&D, we have a number of teams for
you to do amazing work

No matter which team you're on, you'll be empowered to learn, grow, and make a global impact from day one.

Innovation team

This is where your scientific and technological skills become a global force. Together with talented Sensient scientists around the world, you’ll create breakthrough ingredients, next-generation formulations, and technologies that set new industry standards. With our full support, you’ll craft a career that’s bold, curious, and full of purpose.

2 people in lab coats looking at a sample in a lab

Applications team

Want to see your work move at warp speed? You’ll partner directly with customers of every size, from world-leading brands to pioneering startups, helping them solve challenges, elevate their products, and bring new ideas to market. It’s hands-on, collaborative, and built for someone who thrives on seeing their work come to life.

Analytics Team

The research you’ll lead, using instrumentation like HPLC, GC, and GC-MS, will ensure both technical excellence and financial success beyond anything thought possible.

Flavor Creation Team

Develop innovative flavors across diverse market segments, including Beverage, Savory, and Sweet. You’ll develop impactful, tailored solutions that will exceed market expectations.

Sensory Team

Design and execute next-level sensory and consumer research. By delivering actionable insights, you’ll provide an entirely new level of understanding of our products and the consumers who use them.

No matter which team you're on, you’ll be empowered to learn, grow, and
make a global impact from day one.

3 questions for a R&D expert

Take a deeper dive into food science with Erika James, Application Scientist.

How does R&D fit into the big picture at Sensient?

A: Every day is an exciting challenge of crafting new ingredients and food products. This can take the form of developing a new product, adapting an existing one to remove an unwanted ingredient, extending shelf life, or helping to scale up a home recipe or back-of-house foodservice recipe.
Do you think of food science as an art form?

A: Food science blends creativity with chemistry. You have to imagine bold flavor combinations that elevate a category, not just calculate them. Taste is subjective, so crafting something that hits exactly what a customer wants or surprises them with something delightfully new, is as much art as science.
What advice would you give future food scientists?

Stay hungry, literally and metaphorically. Keep seeking inspiration. Engage in as many different food experiences as you can. It’s all “for science.”

I get the opportunity to coach and teach my team on the development of products from cookies and cakes to icings and compound coatings, seasonings, macaroni and cheese, and even cereals. The work we do is incredibly fun.

Zach Henderson
Technical Services Manager