Research And Development Manager - Herbalist

Summary

Join Apothékary™, a fast-growing health and wellness startup, as their R&D Manager. You will lead the development and innovation of their herbal product line, utilizing your expertise in herbal medicine and product development. This role involves researching, formulating, and ensuring the quality and efficacy of products while adhering to regulatory compliance. You will manage relationships with co-manufacturers, collaborate with various teams, and contribute to the company's growth. The position is full-time and fully remote, offering a competitive salary and benefits package. The ideal candidate possesses extensive experience in herbal product development and a deep understanding of relevant regulations.

Requirements

• Bachelor or Master’s degree in Herbal Science/Medicine, Botany, Pharmacognosy, or a related certification in herbalism, nutrition, or other alternative health modalities
• Minimum 5 years experience in herbal product development and formulation in the dietary supplements or wellness industry
• Demonstrated expertise in herbal formulation and ingredient knowledge of traditional and modern herbal practices and processing technologies
• Strong knowledge of FDA and cGMP regulations in the dietary supplement space
• Strong leadership and project management abilities
• Excellent verbal and written skills, ability to work efficiently with all levels of the company and able to effectively present technical information to technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills with external partners including brand partners, co-manufacturers and vendor relations
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, timeline-focused team environment
• Excellent time management skills with a proven ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Proficient with Microsoft Office and Google Suite or related software

Responsibilities

• Spearhead the research, formulation and development of products in line with business, brand objectives and market opportunities
• Utilize traditional herbal medicine principles and modern scientific methods to ensure Apothékary standards of product efficacy, quality, safety, sustainability whilst meeting regulatory requirements
• Be at the forefront of industry trends, scientific research, and consumer preferences to identify and recommend new opportunities for product innovation or improvement on existing formulations
• Own the new product development process from creation to launch including but not limited to product roadmap, Go-To-Market lead times, sampling rounds and formulation approvals, and sourcing for vendors
• Point of contact and manage relationships with co-manufacturers; collaborate with co-manufacturers on the commercialization and technical specifications of formulations, sourcing of sustainable, high-quality ingredients, address production quality, consistency, and capacity issues to ensure product quality and supply stability
• Negotiate with existing and new co-manufacturers for price quotes and formulate and new/existing formulations to meet margin requirements
• Continuously improve and enhance products and formulations; lead efforts to enhance product attributes such as taste, texture, nutritional content packaging, and shelf life
• Problem solve quality issues by providing R&D expertise: root-cause analysis and rework / recuperation recommendations
• Create educational product briefs for Marketing and Ops hand off, including supporting research articles on claims, the herbs and ingredients chosen, and founding content structure for future Marketing assets and copy
• Point of contact and liaison with contract research organizations to design clinical trials and consumer perception studies to substantiate product claims
• Design and conduct consumer perception questionnaires/studies to assess effectiveness and use results to summarize insights and strategies
• Maintain detailed records of research, testing, and product development processes
• Lead and mentor a high performing R&D team including the Product Development and Quality Specialist
• Foster a culture of innovation, continuous learning and improvement, and uphold high degree of ethics and integrity
• Ensure all products, packaging, labelling and claims comply with FDA, FTC, USDA, DSHEA, and other relevant regulatory standards and sign off on all labeling of products
• Stay abreast of evolving regulations and industry standards and continuously ensure Apothékary products remain compliant
• Ensure complete documentation on raw materials, formulations, process parameter, QC and 3rd party tests, and all labeling requirements
• Verification of cGMP certification, shelf life of new ingredients, ingredient substitution, and production standards of new and current co-manufacturers
• Grow and build out our claims substantiation dossier
• Maintain and apply for new product certifications in line with company initiatives (non-GMO, GFCO, organic, B-corp, etc.)
• Work closely with quality assurance teams to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) and maintain quality control
• Advise and work with the Marketing, Creative, and Digital teams to ensure all product claims satisfy Marketing needs and key benefits while balancing language to meet FDA minimums
• Act as subject matter expert in our products and advise/support the Customer Success team with incoming customer inquiries
• Review/write educational research-based content for our blog (and possibly other outlets) on health and herbalism topics
• Support content creation team on content creation and overall strategy
• Create recipes based on current trends for new and existing products
• Create training materials and hold online internal and external training sessions for onboarding new retail customers
• Reviewing and summarizing product feedback from customers

Preferred Qualifications

• Registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild
• Experience at a high-growth, fast-paced startup
• Entrepreneurial mindset

Benefits

• Full-time (40 hours per week)
• Salary range: $80,000 - $90,000
• Comprehensive health, dental and vision plans
• Monthly paid Mental Health Days in addition to PTO
• Monthly Apothékary product stipend
• Fully remote