Director of R&D and Product Commercialization

TITLE: DIRECTOR OF R&D AND PRODUCT COMMERCIALIZATION

REPORTS TO: CEO

CLASSIFICATION: EXEMPT

The Director of Commercialization oversees the end-to-end development and commercialization of Milk Bar products, from concept through scalable production, across both in-house kitchens and external contract manufacturing partners. This role is accountable for translating innovation into high-quality, production-ready products that meet Milk Bar’s standards for taste, safety, consistency, and profitability.

Serving as the connective tissue between Culinary, Supply Chain, Operations, Sales, Marketing, and Finance, the Director of Commercialization ensures that product concepts are technically sound, operationally feasible, and financially viable s role owns commercialization strategy, co-manufacturer relationships, and launch readiness, while driving continuous improvement across quality, cost, and process.

Above all, this role safeguards Milk Bar’s product integrity, prioritizing exceptional taste and quality while enabling efficient, disciplined growth across all lines of business.

Commercialization, Manufacturing & Scale

• Build relationships with best-in-class large-scale contract manufacturing (co-packer) partners to ensure consistent supply to meet Milk Bar product demand requirements.
• Ensure day-to-day execution of production of Milk Bar products at contract manufacturing sites (in collaboration with the VP of Retail, Director of Supply Chain, and facility operators).
• Lead the identification of manufacturing sites for scale-up and innovation items, and oversee onboarding of products to those sites, including line trials and contract negotiations.
• Travel to co-manufacturers regularly to build and strengthen relationships while overseeing product runs and identifying opportunities for improvement in formula, process, and packaging.
• In partnership with Sales, Marketing, and Supply Chain teams, ensure future demand plans are translated into supply requirements, with clear alignment on line scheduling, trial scheduling, and procurement for launch and scale-up.

Product Quality, Food Safety & Production Standards

• Define Milk Bar production standards and ensure product specifications and quality are met consistently across all manufacturing partners.
• Oversee Milk Bar’s Food Safety and Quality to ensure rigorous food safety and quality assurance standards are met at every production site, including third-party audits, FSQA documentation, and sample-and-ship programs.
• Maintain impeccable attention to detail in establishing and executing processes that validate superior taste, texture, and product quality, driving continuous improvement.

Innovation, R&D & Product Development

• Lead R&D resources (including managing R&D lead, consultants, and co-manufacturing partners) to guide innovation concepts from ideation and consumer insights through benchtop development, initial commercial production, scale-up, and post-launch problem solving.
• Support the incubation and development of new product lines aligned to Milk Bar strategy, market trends, category insights, and adjacencies.
• Manage internal innovation and product roadmaps, acting as project manager for each calendar year’s menu, refining processes and products.

Cost Management, Margin & Waste Reduction

• Cost all new products to ensure they meet internal financial hurdles and gross margin targets.
• Drive culinary improvements and value engineering initiatives to improve product margins.
• Ensure limited waste is created upon launch of new products or changes to existing products, including avoiding packaging write-downs and enabling strategic ingredient procurement.
• Work with internal stakeholders to define strategic financial planning and budgets, including annual budgets and periodic re-forecasting for product cost of goods and R&D/commercialization expenses.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Brand Stewardship

• Travel to Milk Bar bakeries regularly to support Bakery teams by gathering and providing feedback on products and processes during Menu Change periods and on an ongoing basis.
• Drive cross-functional collaboration between Sales, Finance, Supply Chain, and…