Vice President, Technical - R&D and Quality

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership & Vision
• Set and execute the enterprise technical strategy across R&D, product development, process development, and quality, aligned to growth priorities, product integrity expectations, and commercialization readiness
• Ensure prioritization, resource allocation, and trade-off decisions are timely and documented
• Build a capability roadmap across talent, vendor partners, laboratory and testing strategy, quality systems, tools, and infrastructure with phased investment recommendations
• Oversee IP and knowledge management approach for development programs and external collaborations
• Innovation & Technical Excellence
• Oversee end-to-end development from requirements through commercialization readiness, technical transfer, validation, product release, and ongoing quality performance, ensuring manufacturability, quality-system alignment, and consumer performance outcomes
• Direct external partner strategy (suppliers, contract developers, academic/technology partners) to accelerate capability build while maintaining technical control
• Champion data-driven development and quality methods, including evidence-based decision making, robust specifications, testing protocols, and documentation discipline across pipelines
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Serve as the senior technical leader in cross-functional governance with Marketing, Operations/Supply Chain, Engineering, QA/QC, New Product Compliance, and Legal
• Translate market requirements into technical programs with clear milestones and handoff expectations to Manufacturing and QA/QC
• Partner with Engineering on CAPEX implications and with Operations on scale-up readiness and transfer execution, ensuring accountability is clear across functions
• Establish an escalation and issue-resolution mechanism for development and commercialization blockers

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry, Food Science, or related technical field
• 12+ years of progressive technical leadership experience in R&D, product development, process development, quality, or related functions within consumer-packaged goods, food, personal care, tobacco/nicotine, beverage, or other regulated product environments
• 7+ years of direct supervisory experience leading managers, senior scientists, engineers, quality leaders, laboratory teams, or multi-disciplinary technical teams
• Demonstrated success standing up or transforming a technical organization, including R&D/Product Development, quality systems, portfolio governance, and external partner strategy
• Strong command of formulation/product development and process development/scale-up concepts, with the ability to bridge product intent to production reality
• Experience leading or partnering deeply with Quality Assurance, Quality Control, quality management systems, audits, CAPA/root cause processes, technical documentation, and evidence-based decision environments
• Executive-level influencing skills with proven ability to align Marketing, Operations, Engineering, QA/QC, Compliance, Legal, and Commercial teams around technical readiness, quality, and product integrity decisions
• Experience in working within FDA and Dietary Supplement guidelines
• Track record of building high-performing teams and delivering measurable pipeline outcomes