Director, Product Development – Commercialization

• Own the commercialization timeline for every product from approved brief to first production run, including go/no-go decisions at each step
• Evaluate feasibility and cost for every brief before approval
• Own formulation across confectionery platforms and maintain Shameless-owned formulas in writing
• Make benchtop samples hands-on and deliver them to Brand 3–4 weeks before flavor lock
• Own regulatory and label data, including nutrition panels, sugar grams, allergens, and claims substantiation
• Define technical specifications and acceptance criteria for sensory, texture, shelf life, and stability
• Develop structural packaging specifications with Brand
• Qualify suppliers and co-manufacturers through technical-fit reviews, trials, and site audits; recommend manufacturing assignments
• Lead pilot runs, stability, scale-up, and first commercial runs, delivering released specs, BOMs, and test plans to Quality and Procurement
• Drive post-launch sensory consistency, cost-down, and reformulation based on market feedback and quality signals
• Provide Brand, Quality, Procurement, Operations, FP&A, Retail, and executives with product specifications, cost inputs, lead times, and manufacturing recommendations
• Ensure the co-manufacturer transition is completed, every active SKU has a written formula and spec, acceptance criteria are documented, launches ship on time, landed COGS improves, and projects are tracked in the pipeline system

• 10+ years in confectionery or adjacent food product development, still hands-on at the bench, with formulation depth in gummies (pectin and starch), and depth in at least two of: aerated, panned/crunchy, licorice, sugar-reduced systems (allulose, erythritol, fiber)
• Has taken products from bench through pilot to first commercial run, and has transferred a formula between plants
• Has qualified and managed co-manufacturers without owning the plant, including site audits and holding a CM to spec
• Has written acceptance criteria and run a technical sensory gate; fluent in CoAs, moisture activity, stability and shelf-life
• Builds a BOM cost and knows yield and MOQ math
• Ownership — you hold the timeline and the go/no-go; when a launch slips for product readiness, that is yours
• Resourcefulness — there is no in-house lab or pilot plant; trials run at supplier and co-manufacturer facilities, and you make that work
• Documentation discipline — formulas, specs and supplier history live in the system, not in your head
• Speed with rigor — comfortable being the whole function in a company that moves weekly, without lowering the technical bar
• Clear communication — you translate between Brand’s consumer language and a co-manufacturer’s process language, in both directions

• Paid Time Off
• Work From Home
• Training & Development