Description:
Who are we?
Lyka is an Australian founded pet wellness company that's shaking up an outdated industry and paving the way for happier, healthier pets. Despite medical advancements, animal lifespans are on the decline. Today, the average pet only reaches 37% of their full potential lifespan and statistics have shown us that many suffer from dental disease, cancer, and obesity. Simply put, the status quo is not enough.
As humans, we've experienced firsthand the positive impact fresh wholefoods can have on our health and wellbeing, and we believe our furry friends deserve the same. We're on a mission to do just that, starting with nutritionally balanced, wholefood meals delivered direct to doors around Australia. As the world's most sustainable pet wellness company, we're putting pets and our planet first - one bowl at a time.
Today, we are proud to share we've served 50 million meals to puppers and their parents across Australia, and this is just the beginning. Our vision is to create multiple nutritional products, adding disease prevention meals and supplements, and expand into new markets.
Currently, we have a team of 250+ pet-obsessed people and we're continuing to grow (yes, looking at you!). These carefully selected people are dedicated to building the next generation of technology and products to help empower pet parents to take control over their pet's wellbeing.
To date, we have raised over $60M in funding from venture capital investors and pet industry insiders, who believe in our mission and ability to drive change in a stagnant industry, providing nutrition that nourishes puppers from the inside out.
Are you ready to shake things up and give pets the life they deserve? Come join our pack!
Our Mission
The time we share with our pets is being cut short. Despite medical advancements, they're getting sicker earlier. They're dying prematurely. The industry has it backwards - prioritising treating symptoms instead of addressing the root cause. That's where we come in.
At Lyka, we take a preventative, holistic and personalised approach to pet care. We look at the full picture, factoring in the diet, lifestyle and environment of each individual animal.
We don't stop at symptoms, instead we dig for the root cause. We create nutrition plans unique to each pet, because it's not just about living longer, but living well too.
Our mission is to increase the lifespan of dogs and cats.
The Opportunity
Lyka is growing quickly, and no two weeks are the same. We're looking for a Food Technologist to join our business at a pivotal moment as we continue to scale our customer base and expand our product offering, taking our business to new heights. In this role, you'll be working within the Research & Development team to ensure robust commercialisation of new products and the enhancement of existing products.
Responsibilities include:
- Conduct benchtop trials for new or existing product development.
- Conduct comprehensive research and analysis to identify new ingredients, technologies, and processes to enhance product quality and safety.
- Ideate and drive continuous improvement and production improvement processes for our entire portfolio resulting in value add.
- Develop relevant nutritional information, product labels, artwork approval, and other supporting NPD activities.
- Support product development projects and provide full lifecycle services from product conception to launch.
- Maintain end-to-end lifecycle of projects from trial to commercialisation within agreed timelines.
- Scale products in a manufacturing environment ensuring compliance with internal and external standards; define manufacturing process specifications, equipment specifications and the development of standard operating procedures.
- Research the feasibility of potential new ingredients ensuring they align with business values and standards; find, screen and approve potential ingredient suppliers ensuring they comply with company standards.
- Work cross functionally with manufacturing, marketing, procurement and QA to ensure successful product launches.
- Degree in Food Science, Technology or similar field.
- 2+ years' experience as Food Scientist/Technologist specialising in new product development.
- Proven experience in the technical development and commercialisation of products (pet food/meat industry bonus).
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and the ability to work effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
- Strong attention to detail, time management and organisational skills; the ability to work autonomously.
- A ‘can do' attitude; willing to ‘jump in and get your hands dirty' when needed for different projects.
- Work in a fast-growing start-up, experiencing what goes behind the scenes to sustain hyper-growth for a start-up with a physical product!
- Growth and Development - Lyka is growing extremely quickly, which means you will have the opportunity to experience different challenges every day and progressively acquire more responsibilities as our facility and team expands. We provide an annual L&D budget for you to continue your personal development.
- Work for a sustainability focused company - we care about the health of our dogs and our planet. We're proud to be Australia's only carbon-negative and plastic-negative pet company and we're always looking at ways for us improve sustainability practices.
- Be part of a diverse top talent team, coming from widely different backgrounds and geographies.
- Up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave top-up.
- Wellbeing assistance and tools to take care of your mental and physical wellbeing so you can do your best work.
- Hybrid working - 3 days per week in office. We have pet-friendly offices and industrial kitchens in Sydney and Melbourne. Onsite days are required during your onboarding.
- Pupper parent support to care for your furry friends - flexible arrangements for new pets, pet-friendly offices, discounts, and financial allowance for dog training & care to help them live their best life!
We are committed to building inclusive and diverse teams
Lyka is an equal opportunity employer devoted to providing a working environment that embraces and values diversity and inclusion.
We celebrate diversity, are devoted to creating an inclusive environment for all staff and encourage people of all backgrounds to apply. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of application.