Product Innovation Scientist — Function ; Formulation

Position Title:
Product Innovation Scientist — Function House (Formulation)

This is a builder’s role for a scientist who wants to create the next generation of functional products—the kind that becomes a category, not just a SKU.

As a Product Innovation Scientist, you will be one of the key brains behind how Nulixir turns cutting‑edge ingredient technology into products consumers can feel, love, and buy again. You’ll own formulation work end‑to‑end: from concept and bench prototypes to pilot runs, scale‑up, and commercial readiness—across beverages, concentrates, gummies, and novel formats.

You’ll operate at the intersection of chemistry/chemical engineering + food science + sensory + process reality. Your work will directly influence products that can scale into nationwide (and global) brands—potentially reaching hundreds of millions to billions of units over time.

If you want high standards, fast iteration, real manufacturing, and the chance to shape “what the market drinks next,” this role is for you.

This position will be based at our HQ facilities located in the Austin, TX Metropolitan Area.

In this critically important role, you will be responsible for:

• Design and formulate functional products with exceptional taste, texture, stability, and manufacturability.
• Rapidly prototype (bench top) and iterate based on sensory feedback, stability data, and process constraints.
• Translate formulations into production‑ready specs: mixing order, shear requirements, pH targets, Brix, viscosity, hold times, thermal exposure limits, etc.
• Support scale‑up and commercialization in partnership with Operations and Quality.

• Engineer formulations around functional targets: onset, experiential feel, bioavailability, stability, and shelf‑life performance.
• Deeply understand and optimize systems involving emulsions, solubilization, encapsulation, dispersions, and complex ingredient interactions.
• Build robust strategies for challenging actives (fat‑soluble compounds, bitter botanicals, unstable vitamins, oxidation‑prone oils, etc.).
• Select and optimize sweeteners, acids, flavors, masking systems, hydrocolloids, preservatives, and antioxidants.

• Own taste, aroma, mouthfeel, aftertaste, and overall consumer experience—without compromising function.
• Build structured sensory workflows: tasting rubrics, blinded comparisons, iteration logs, and decision criteria.
• Collaborate with flavor houses and ingredient suppliers to push beyond “acceptable” into “craveable.”

• Design and execute stability plans (accelerated + real‑time) and interpret results to drive formulation changes.
• Identify failure modes early: phase separation, precipitation, color drift, flavor fade, oxidation, microbial risk, viscosity drift, foaming, etc.
• Partner with Quality to define specs, QC checkpoints, and corrective actions.
• Document formulations and results with high rigor (recipes, batch records, change logs, photos, data packages).

• Work tightly with Commercial to understand customer needs and translate them into formulation requirements.
• Support customer‑facing technical work when needed (sample strategy, technical calls, data summaries).
• Build tight handoffs to Operations: process instructions, critical parameters, acceptable ranges, and troubleshooting guides.
• Build repeatable formulation playbooks and best practices (templates, SOPs, ingredient libraries, troubleshooting maps).
• Run experiments with structure (DoE mindset) to move faster with fewer iterations.
• Contribute to the “Function House” knowledge base—so we get better every month, not every year.

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Food Science, or a related discipline (Food Science background strongly preferred; ChemE/Chem must be genuinely hands‑on with formulation).
• 2–8+ years experience in formulation R&D (beverages, functional ingredients, nutraceuticals, flavors, CPG, or related).
• Strong understanding of ingredient…