Senior R & D Manager

Senior R&D Manager, Pet Food

Location:

Topeka, Kansas (remote, with 35% travel).

Salary range: $125,000 - $175,000/year.

The Honest Kitchen is a B Corp that creates human‑grade whole foods, treats, and supplements for dogs and cats. As a rapidly growing company recognized by Outside Magazine and Great Place to Work, we prioritize inclusive culture, sustainability, and ethical processes.

• Deliver functional and individual goals aligned with the Annual Operating Plan (AOP), including innovation milestones, cost‑savings initiatives, vendor optimization, and productivity targets.
• Serve as a technical leader within the R&D team, demonstrating scientific judgment, data‑driven decisions, and expertise in pet nutrition, food safety, and processing fundamentals.
• Lead development of new human‑grade pet food products and reformulation of existing items across dehydrated, dry, wet, baked, and treat formats.
• Translate project briefs into robust formulas and commercialize recipes that meet brand guardrails, AAFCO regulations, FDA labeling, sensory targets, operational capability, and cost‑of‑goods goals.
• Conduct bench development, pilot trials, co‑manufacturer trials, and plant scale‑ups to secure successful commercialization.
• Own the creation and maintenance of all formulation documentation, including ingredient breakdowns, spec sheets, process parameters, work instructions, nutritional panels, preparation instructions, and shelf‑life validation.
• Partner with Operations to establish process control points, critical limits, and technical guardrails ensuring consistency across manufacturing locations.
• Build cost models and collaborate with Finance & Procurement to ensure new products and reformulations deliver the required margins.
• Collaborate with Regulatory to ensure compliance with AAFCO, FDA labeling, human‑grade ingredient standards, claim substantiation, and ingredient documentation.
• Ensure formulations and processes uphold The Honest Kitchen’s standards for quality, food safety, and transparency.
• Engage with Marketing, Sales, Operations, and QA throughout the development cycle to align on objectives, timelines, risks, and deliverables; provide proactive updates and resolve critical issues.
• Mine existing recipes and processes for cost‑savings, ingredient simplification, process efficiencies, and margin improvement opportunities.
• Maintain awareness of category trends, processing advances, and ingredient innovations to keep the company at the forefront of the industry.

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Animal Science, Chemical Engineering, or related field with 7+ years of product development experience.
• Proven track record of developing formulas concept → bench → pilot → plant → launch.
• Experience with pet food, high‑moisture and low‑moisture systems, extrusion, dehydration, thermal processing, treats, or baked snacks preferred.
• Strong understanding of:
  • AAFCO nutritional requirements
  • Food safety and HACCP
  • Ingredient functionality
  • Processing fundamentals
• Highly organized, detail‑oriented, disciplined in documentation and follow‑through.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to influence, present, and build alignment with cross‑functional partners.
• Collaborative team player who can respectfully challenge assumptions and drive solutions.
• Ability to travel as needed to co‑manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, and production facilities.
• Proficiency in MS Office, Smart Sheets, and C5 Formulation.
• Remote role; ideal candidate resides in Topeka, Kansas area and travels at least 35% of the time.

• Ability to lift up to 50 lbs periodically.
• Ability to work in production environments including kitchens, pilot plants, manufacturing areas, freezers, and hot processing rooms.
• Ability to bend, lift, climb stairs, and move equipment or materials as required.
• Flexibility to support trials outside standard business hours as needed.

• Unlimited vacation and additional sick time, generous company‑paid holiday schedule.
• Health insurance plans with generous employer contributions; vision, dental, short‑term disability, long‑term disability, accident, critical illness,…