R&D Manager, Brand Maintenance & Productivity

Responsibilities

• Brand Maintenance & Formula Stewardship
• Evaluate and mitigate potential risks to product quality, sensory, or manufacturability when changes are introduced.
• Identify and lead cost savings initiatives across the portfolio, including ingredient optimization, supplier qualifications, and specification improvements.
• Partner with Procurement to validate alternative suppliers and ingredients.
• Own ingredient and formula specification R&D technical approvals.
• Conduct technical assessments to ensure cost improvements do not negatively impact sensory quality, product stability, or processability.
• Develop technical justification, validation plans, and implementation strategies for productivity initiatives.
• Sensory Validation & Technical Problem Solving
• Design and execute sensory evaluation protocols to validate formula, ingredient, and process changes across the existing portfolio.
• In collaboration with Quality, investigate product performance issues including sensory deviations, shelf-life concerns, and process variability.
• Design and execute experiments to identify root causes and implement corrective actions.
• Interpret sensory, analytical, and process data to inform technical decisions and risk assessments.
• Document findings, conclusions, and recommendations to support cross-functional decision-making and leadership updates.
• Commercialization & Manufacturing Support
• Lead plant trials related to brand maintenance, formula renovations, and productivity projects.
• Develop protocols, success criteria, and post-trial reporting documentation with clear technical recommendations.
• Translate bench-scale formulations into scalable manufacturing processes and support troubleshooting during scale-up.
• Serve as key R&D technical contact for manufacturing plants during process, formula, or specification updates.

Qualifications

• 6–8+ years of product development in the food and beverage industry. Experience with carbonated beverages strongly preferred.
• 0-2 years of experience managing and developing technical team members.
• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science or a related field.
• Excellent mathematical and analytical skills.
• Proven experience supporting commercialization and plant-scale manufacturing.
• Familiarity with regulatory requirements and quality standards in the beverage industry.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to troubleshoot technical issues.
• Strong project management skills and ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously.
• Experience with ingredient supplier qualification and cost optimization.
• Effective communication and teamwork skills.
• 25-40% travel to manufacturing plants, suppliers, and team offsites
• Close proximity to our lab in Burlingame. Ability to work onsite 4 days a week.

Pay

$110,000 - $145,000 + Bonus

Schedule

Full-time