Director of R&D and Product Development

Overview:

Bio-Botanica® is a family-owned and operated company specializing in botanical extracts for over 50 years. We are a leading manufacturer of 500+ quality botanical extracts for cosmetic, dietary supplement, food, and beverage industries. A well-recognized industry innovator known for pioneering numerous advancements in the botanical field, we pride ourselves on long-term customer relationships developed since 1972, based on both flexibility and versatility in manufacturing products tailored to a broad range of applications. In addition to our B2B services, our branded products, led by our flagship Nature’s Answer® brand, are carried in retail stores throughout the U.S. and internationally.

Under the COO’s direction, the Director of R&D and Product Development provides strategic leadership and oversees company-wide research, development, and technical execution across botanical extraction, dietary supplements, cosmetics, and ingredient development. This role serves as the organization’s scientific subject-matter expert and technical authority, driving innovation, product development, and scientific excellence across all relevant disciplines.

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Responsibilities:

• Partner with Marketing, Business Development, Regulatory, Quality, Operations, and external stakeholders to define, provide feedback on, and oversee product development opportunities, aligning them with corporate strategies and capabilities.
• Act as the corporate scientific resource with external stakeholders (virtual meetings, in-person meetings and facility tours, trade shows, prospective customer calls) to demonstrate the corporate scientific knowledge, technical approach, and robust capabilities around new product development.
• Oversee all technical formulation and product development, including scientific literature review, ingredient sourcing, formulation and manufacturing process design, and product specification and analytical method development.
• Design and implement botanical extraction techniques. Optimize extraction parameters, target active components, maximize yields, and develop analytical support around testing, characterization, and quality.
• Develop new dietary supplements, cosmetics, and novel ingredients with attention to ingredient selection, label claim and overage compliance, product characteristics, and formulation stability.
• Direct bench-scale testing, pilot trials, and transfer to full-scale commercial manufacturing.
• Lead, mentor, and train the R&D formulation team to ensure development project milestones, bench-to-scale feasibility, deliverables accuracy, and timing expectations are met.
• Collaborate with the Purchasing team in material sourcing efforts, including identifying sources for hard-to-find ingredients, ensuring supplier and material quality, and aligning materials with formulation requirements (material potency, Non-GMO, Organic, etc).
• Ensure all product development efforts and documentation align with required regulatory requirements, including FDA, FTC, cGMP, safety, and international standards.

Education and Experience:

• BS in chemistry, biology, or related scientific discipline required. M.S. or Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry or Pharmacognosy preferred.
• 7+ years in botanical extraction, dietary supplement, nutraceutical, novel ingredient, or functional food product development and formulation.
• 3+ years in a leadership or managerial role directly overseeing scientific teams.
• Proven track record of scaling benchtop formulations to commercial production
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, able to work in a cooperative environment and cross-functional team.