Product Development Specialist (Food/Animal Science)

Summary of the Position: Participates in the product development activities for creating new products and innovating current products to maintain the company’s profitability and meet customer specifications. Identifies gaps within the product development stage of a product to ensure all new and innovative technology is utilized as needed. Ensures regulations are being followed during the product development stages.

Roles and Responsibilities:
Product Development
• Executes new product proposals as per technical and customer requests as presented by sales.
• Performs product development activities for companion and livestock animals’ nutritional supplements and/or dosage form products.
• Executes formulations, costings, and price quotes of any proposed new product or product change.
• Performs sample making of product prototypes during the development stage.
• Acquires approval of product prototypes from various departments including Operations, Quality, and Sales.
• Works with cross-functional teams including Operations, Quality, Purchasing, Sales, and suppliers.
• Follows the CDMO procedures and maintains up-to-date status in the CDMO tracker.
• Ensures the process of new product development or improvement of an existing product is in line with customer’s quality management system.
• Develops label text in accordance with product category and regulatory guidelines of NASC and AAFCO and with customer, as needed.
• Ensures customer quality and product specification requirements are met during the product development stage.
• Establishes product specification requirements for new products.
• Coordinates label development process with internal VPI team and with customer, as needed.
• Develops methods to improve existing products and processes based on internal request, customer requirement, or any regulatory updates.
• Reviews raw materials, packaging materials, labels, and other inputs for manufacturing and supply.
• Transfers product knowledge to the Operations team to ensure a smooth transition from development stage to commercial production.
• Acts as a catalyst for change and improvement in overall quality and production.
• Implements process improvements to establish new procedures, standards, and systems for a new product or a new process implementation.
• Ensures compliance with national and international standards.
• Ensures new product development and commercialization stages meet all GMP and Product Quality and Safety guidelines.
• Other tasks as determined by the supervisor.

Technical Support
• Guides sales team to support customers’ understanding of product-specific features.
• Assists marketing department in development of product literature, product brochures, and product comparison to promote sales.

Regulatory Support
• Assists in state registration of products and resolves label-related issues.
• Ensures products are developed under NASC or AAFCO compliance.
• Investigates root causes when investigating customer complaints.
Skills and Qualifications:
• Excellent organizational skills and a high attention to detail.
• The ability to multi-task multiple projects in a fast-paced environment with ability to work collaboratively with internal and external teams.
• Must be proficient in Windows Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel), with advanced Excel skills.
• Ability to think and work independently and possess strong creativity and problem-solving skills.
• Analytical ability to perform research tasks and design plans for product development.

Education and Experience:
• Preferred: Master of Science (Food Science, Animal Science, Dairy Science)
• Minimum: Bachelor of Technology (Food Science, Animal Science, Dairy Science)
• Preferred: 2 years’ experience in the field of Food Science or Animal Science