Lead and oversee roasting of nuts, seeds and related snack products using automated/continuous roasting systems and manual/traditional roasting drums.
Establish, validate and maintain optimum roasting profiles for different raw materials, products and flavor requirements.
Create and develop new products, flavor profiles, process improvements.
Control critical roasting parameters including temperature, roasting/residence time, belt or drum speed, airflow, product loading and cooling requirements.
Apply expert sensory judgement to assess roast development through colour, aroma, flavour, texture, crunch and overall product characteristics.
Make real-time process adjustments for variations in raw-material moisture, size, variety and production conditions while protecting approved product specifications.
Work independently with minimal supervision and take ownership of the roasting, coating and flavored-nut production processes, making sound technical and operational decisions, troubleshooting process issues, and ensuring consistent achievement of required product quality and production standards.
Ensure consistent batch-to-batch output and prevent under-roasting, over-roasting, scorching, uneven colour or undesirable flavour development.
Operate and technically oversee automated roasting lines, including machine settings, start-up, changeover, shutdown and process monitoring.
Lead and oversee roasting of nuts, seeds and related snack products using automated/continuous roasting systems and manual/traditional roasting drums.
Establish, validate and maintain optimum roasting profiles for different raw materials, products and flavor requirements.
Create and develop new products, flavor profiles, process improvements.
Control critical roasting parameters including temperature, roasting/residence time, belt or drum speed, airflow, product loading and cooling requirements.
Apply expert sensory judgement to assess roast development through colour, aroma, flavour, texture, crunch and overall product characteristics.
Make real-time process adjustments for variations in raw-material moisture, size, variety and production conditions while protecting approved product specifications.
Work independently with minimal supervision and take ownership of the roasting, coating and flavored-nut production processes, making sound technical and operational decisions, troubleshooting process issues, and ensuring consistent achievement of required product quality and production standards.
Ensure consistent batch-to-batch output and prevent under-roasting, over-roasting, scorching, uneven colour or undesirable flavour development.
Operate and technically oversee automated roasting lines, including machine settings, start-up, changeover, shutdown and process monitoring.
Diagnose roasting-related process deviations and work with Production, Quality and Maintenance teams on root-cause analysis and corrective action.
Demonstrate advanced practical expertise in manual drum roasting, including heat control, drum movement, batch size, roast duration and end-point determination.
Translate successful manual roasting techniques into measurable, repeatable and scalable operating parameters where technically feasible.
Develop, document and maintain approved roasting recipes, process parameters and operating standards for each product.
Conduct in-process and finished-product sampling and support investigations into deviations in taste, colour, texture, moisture or roasting consistency.
Support new-product development and commercialization through roasting trials, profile development, sensory evaluation and scale-up from trial to full production.
Ensure all roasting activities comply with company food-safety, hygiene and quality requirements, including HACCP, GMP, allergen control, sanitation and traceability requirements.
Support monitoring of roasting as an applicable heat-treatment/control stage and immediately escalate any deviation from approved process limits.
Optimize roasting conditions to improve throughput, yield, energy utilization and consistency while minimizing burns, rejects, breakage and avoidable product loss.
Act as the primary technical reference for roasting-related issues and recommend practical improvements to equipment settings, process controls and operating methods.
Maintain accurate roasting, production, quality and traceability records and support audits, investigations and continuous-improvement initiatives.
Perform other production-related duties within the scope of the role as assigned by the Operations Manager.
Analysis: Evaluates roasting data, product characteristics, process deviations and quality results to identify causes and optimize roast profiles.
People Management: Coaches and develops roasting and production operators, ensuring process discipline, capability building and knowledge transfer. Train and coach Roaster Operators, Machine Operators and relevant production employees on automated and manual roasting methods, product standards and safe operating practices.
Innovation: translation of artisanal/manual roasting expertise and best practices into standardized industrial production.
Minimum 7-10 years of hands-on experience in commercial/industrial nut and seed roasting, preferably within an established and reputable nuts, snacks or food-manufacturing operation.
Bachelor's degree in Food Processing, Food Manufacturing, Production or a related discipline.
Extensive specialized practical experience in nut and seed roasting may be considered in lieu of formal academic qualifications.
Essential: extensive hands-on experience operating automated/continuous industrial roasting production lines AND manual/traditional roasting drums.
Demonstrable experience as a Senior Roaster, Master Roaster, Roasting Specialist or equivalent technical role.
Strong experience across multiple products such as cashews, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and similar products.
Proven ability to establish, optimize and reproduce product-specific roasting profiles and troubleshoot roasting deviations.
Experience with seasoning/flavour application, cooling and post-roast handling is strongly preferred.
Experience working under HACCP/GMP and recognized food-safety systems; operator training experience is preferred.
Expert knowledge of nut and seed roasting techniques
Automated/continuous roasting-line operation
Manual/traditional drum-roasting expertise
Roast-profile development and optimization
Temperature, residence-time, airflow, loading and cooling control
Sensory assessment of colour, flavour, aroma, texture and crunch
Raw-material variability assessment
Process troubleshooting and root-cause analysis
Food safety, HACCP, GMP, allergen control and hygiene awareness
Production efficiency, yield and waste management
Basic equipment troubleshooting and process standardization
Recipe/process documentation, traceability and record keeping
Operator training and technical knowledge transfer
Working English sufficient for production records, SOPs and technical communication
Independent technical decision-making and problem solving
Ownership of roasting, coating and flavored-nut production processes