Director, Product Development & Commercialization

Shameless Foods; Colombia; On-site; COP 120,000,000 - 190,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid Time Off

Work From Home

Training & Development

Job summary

Shameless Foods is seeking a senior technical lead to own the commercialization of Shameless Snacks from brief to first production run, determining feasibility and COGS with co‑manufacturers. You will run benchtop samples, compile regulatory data, write specs and BOMs, and manage scale‑up to the first commercial run, translating Brand needs into manufacturable products.

This hands‑on role requires deep confectionery know‑how, supplier governance, and a relentless focus on cost, quality, and

Qualifications

• 10+ years in confectionery product development with hands-on bench work.
• Experience transferring formulas from bench to first production run.
• Managed co-manufacturers and conducted site audits.
• Wrote acceptance criteria and ran sensory gates.
• Built BOM costs and understood yield/MOQ math.

Responsibilities

• Own timeline and go/no-go for launches from brief to first run.
• Evaluate briefs for feasibility, cost inputs, and COGS.
• Develop formulations owned by Shameless in writing.
• Coordinate benchtop samples with suppliers and labs.
• Deliver specs, test plans, and scale-up to quality/procurement.
• Push for cost-down and reformulation based on market feedback.

Skills

Confectionery R&D

Formulation depth

Gummies formulation

Co-manufacturer management

Education

Bachelor's in Food Science

Tools

CoAs

Moisture analysis

Stability testing

Job description

About the role:

You are in charge of commercializing every Shameless Snacks product: taking an approved brief and delivering a formula, spec, supplier and stable first commercial production run, on the roadmap date and at the target cost. You own the technical answer to “can we make this, where, and at what COGS,” and the go/no-go at each step from bench to first run.

Shameless is an omnichannel better-for-you confectionery brand. We do not own plants. Product is made by co-manufacturers across several confectionery platforms, and the company owns its formulas. This role is the technical center of that model.

What you own:

• The commercialization timeline for every product, brief to first production run, and the go/no-go at each step
• Feasibility and cost reads on every brief before it is approved: can we make it, where, and at what COGS.
• Formulation across all platforms, with every formula owned by Shameless in writing.
• Benchtop samples, hands‑on — you make them yourself and through flavor‑house and co‑manufacturer labs (there is no in‑house lab today), and deliver them to Brand 3–4 weeks before flavor lock.
• Regulatory and label data: nutrition panel, sugar grams, allergens, claims substantiation.
• Technical specs and acceptance criteria: sensory, texture, shelf life, stability. You own technical sensory; Brand owns consumer acceptance.
• Structural packaging spec (bag, master case, display) with Brand on artwork.
• Supplier and co‑manufacturer technical qualification: technical fit, trials, site audits. You recommend which co‑manufacturer makes what.
• Pilot runs, stability, scale‑up and first commercial run, ending in a released spec, BOM and test plan handed to Quality and Procurement
• Post‑launch improvement: sensory consistency, cost‑down and reformulation, driven by market feedback and quality signals

How you work with the rest of the company:

Brand decides what and when. You decide how, and whether it can be done at cost. Each function holds the final call on its own piece:

• Brand owns the brief, the roadmap, consumer acceptance, artwork and go‑to‑market
• Quality (under the Director of Supply Chain, Procurement and Sourcing) approves the spec and test plan and releases lots at the co‑manufacturer
• Procurement and Sourcing owns commercial terms, MOQs and purchase orders
• The executive team owns co‑manufacturer contracts, IP, recall terms, and which co‑manufacturer gets volume
• Operations owns inbound logistics, tariffs and 3PL
• FP&A owns COGS targets, the margin model, and S&OP
• The Retail team owns retail spec sheets, pallet patterns and OTIF

Your job is to give each of them what they need from the product: the spec, the cost inputs, the lead times, the recommendation on where it should be made.

What success looks like in year one:

1. The co‑manufacturer transition is complete for the core portfolio.
2. Every active SKU has a written, Shameless‑owned formula and spec
3. Written acceptance criteria exist for every platform, and every incoming sample is evaluated against them before it reaches Brand.
4. Every launch on the roadmap ships on its date, with formulation freeze and benchtop samples delivered ahead of flavor lock
5. Landed COGS on transitioned SKUs is down against the prior baseline, quantified with FP&A.
6. Every project is visible in the pipeline system with a stage, owner and next gate, and nothing depends on one person’s inbox.

What you bring:

Experience

• 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.

How you work

• 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