Director of Research Development

A leading innovator in the development and manufacturing of dietary supplements and custom health products, offering comprehensive solutions across vitamins, minerals, herbs, and supplements (VMHS) as well as Beauty and Ready-to-Drink (RTD) formulations.

Position Title:
Director of Research & Development

Position Overview:

The Director of Research & Development will lead R&D, formulation development, innovation, and commercialization initiatives across a diverse portfolio of dietary supplements and functional wellness products, with a strong emphasis on liquid, and Ready-to-Drink (RTD) formulation development.

This individual will serve as a scientific and technical leader supporting customer innovation, ingredient strategy, formulation development and commercialization initiatives while partnering cross-functionally with Operations, Quality, Regulatory, Procurement, and Commercial teams, The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in liquid formulation development, ingredient functionality, and manufacturing scale-up within a fast-paced contract manufacturing environment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead R&D, formulation development, and innovation initiatives across liquids, RTD beverages, powders, capsules, tables, gummies, stick packs, softgels, and other dietary supplement dosage forms.
• Serve as a scientific and technical leader supporting customer innovation, ingredient strategy, formulation development, and commercialization initiatives.
• Partner directly with customers and commercial teams to support product ideation technical consultations, ingredient selection, formulation strategy, and innovation pipeline development.
• Provide scientific leadership related to ingredient functionality, formulation performance, stability, considerations, bioavailability, flavor systems, and emerging wellness trends.
• Drive the development and optimization of liquid and RTD formulations, including flavor systems, taste masking, emulsification, stability, preservation systems, pH management, viscosity optimization, and sensory performance.
• Lead bench‑top, prototype creation, pilot trials, process validation, scale‑up activities, and commercialization efforts while ensuring manufacturability and operational scalability.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with operations, quality, regulatory, procurement, and commercial teams to ensure formulations meet FDA 21 CFR Part 111 requirements, cGMP standards, customer specification, and quality expectations.
• Support customer‑facing technical discussions, innovation presentations, commercialization planning, and technical problem‑solving initiatives.
• Lead troubleshooting initiatives related to formulation performance, manufacturing challenges, ingredient interactions, product stability, and process optimization.
• Evaluate emerging ingredient technologies, scientific research, beverage trends, and customer market opportunities to support strategic innovation initiatives and customer product development opportunities.
• Oversee formulations documentation, technical records, validation activities commercialization support documentation, and stability study coordination.
• Support supplier collaboration and ingredient qualification initiatives, including raw material functionality, sourcing considerations, and technical assessments.
• Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives focused on speed‑to‑market, product quality, innovation scalability, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in food science, Chemistry, Nutrition, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemical Engineering, or related scientific discipline required, advanced degree preferred.
• 7+ years of progressive experience in product development, R&D, formulation, innovation, or technical leadership within the dietary supplement, nutraceutical, beverage, or functional wellness industries.
• Strong hands‑on experience with liquid and/or RTD formulation development within a regulated manufacturing environment.
• Experience with beverage systems including flavor technologies, emulsions, sweetener systems, preservation systems, pH management, and stability optimization strongly preferred.
• Deep understanding…