Director of Research Development
People Capital Executive Search · Oceanside, CA
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This highly commercial, customer-facing leader will be responsible for translating customer needs, market opportunities, and company's scientific and ingredient capabilities into differentiated, scalable commercial solutions that drive growth.The Senior Director of R&D will serve as the primary technical bridge between Sales, customers, Science, Operations, Quality, Regulatory, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and external co-manufacturing partners. This leader will own the development and commercialization pathway from customer opportunity and technical concept through formulation, application development, validation, scale-up, technical transfer, and successful commercial production, whether manufactured internally or through external partners.Working closely with company's existing scientific and technical experts, the Senior Director will ensure foundational science is effectively translated into customer applications and commercial opportunities. The role will also establish the priorities, processes, capabilities, and technical partnerships required to accelerate speed-to-market, strengthen customer relationships, and build a scalable innovation and applications pipeline.Key ResponsibilitiesCommercial Applications & Customer EngagementLead company's commercial applications and customer-facing product development capabilities across ingredients and emerging platforms.Partner directly with Sales and customers to understand customer needs, formulation challenges, technical requirements, and commercial opportunities.Serve as the senior technical partner in strategic customer engagements, co-development sessions, product demonstrations, technical presentations, qualification reviews, and issue resolution.Translate customer needs into formulations, prototypes, application concepts, and commercially viable technical solutions.Lead application development across relevant food, beverage, nutritional, supplement, and other commercial formats, demonstrating the functionality and value of ingredients.Support technical selling by translating ingredient functionality, processing considerations, and scientific concepts into clear customer and business value.Build application knowledge, technical proof points, and repeatable solutions that strengthen customer relationships and enable the commercial organization.Product Development, Scale-Up & CommercializationEstablish clear development and commercialization stage gates, technical requirements, timelines, ownership, and decision points.Ensure new products and applications are scalable, manufacturable, repeatable, compliant, and aligned with customer specifications and commercial requirements.Partner with Operations, Manufacturing, Quality, Regulatory, and Supply Chain to successfully transition products from development into commercial production.Lead pilot and production trials and establish appropriate technical and commercial validation requirements prior to launch.Identify technical, manufacturing, quality, and supply risks early in the development process and drive cross-functional resolution.Establish disciplined technical-transfer processes and documentation, including formulations, specifications, processing parameters, and manufacturing requirements.Lead technical transfer, plant trials, scale-up, validation, and initial commercial production with external manufacturing partners.Ensure externally manufactured products consistently meet company and customer requirements for quality, performance, specifications, regulatory compliance, and commercial readiness.Develop strong technical relationships with strategic co-manufacturers and identify external capabilities that can expand the products, formats, and applications can bring to market.Portfolio Strategy, Science & Cross-Functional IntegrationMaintain visibility into development priorities, project status, resource requirements, technical risks, and commercialization readiness.Identify emerging applications, technologies, processing capabilities, and external partnerships that can expand company's addressable opportunities.Partner closely with company's Science organization and technical subject-matter experts to translate foundational mushroom science into commercially relevant products and applications.Leverage internal expertise in areas such as mycology, analytical and method development, specifications, regulatory, clinical/scientific substantiation, and ingredient science to support customer and product-development needs.External Resource & Consultant ManagementManage and leverage external consultants and specialized technical resources to supplement internal capabilities and support product development, applications, technical problem-solving, and commercialization priorities.QualificationsBachelor's degree in Food Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry, or a related technical discipline required; advanced degree preferred. Whole ingredients into novel applications.12+ years of progressive experience in R&D, applications development, product development, commercialization, or technical leadership within food, beverage, dietary supplements, nutraceuticals, functional ingredients, or related industries.Demonstrated experience leading applications development, formulation, customer technical support, scale-up, and commercialization.Strong understanding of ingredient functionality and experience translating ingredient technologies into finished-product applications.Proven experience moving products from bench or pilot development through commercial-scale manufacturing.Demonstrated experience working directly with customers and commercial teams to develop and commercialize technical solutions.Experience evaluating and working with co-manufacturers and external manufacturing partners, including technical transfer, plant trials, scale-up, validation, and commercialization.Experience with functional ingredients, powders, extracts, beverages, nutritional products, spray drying, or similar ingredient technologies preferred.Demonstrated ability to lead complex cross-functional programs involving R&D, Sales, Manufacturing, Quality, Regulatory, Supply Chain, and external partners.Strong business acumen with the ability to balance technical excellence with speed, cost, scalability, customer requirements, and commercial value.Strong executive and customer communication skills with the ability to translate complex scientific and technical concepts for technical and non-technical audiences.Proven people leadership with the ability to develop talent and build capabilities through a combination of internal resources and external partnerships.