New Product Development Manager (Nutraceutical)- Khar West

Happylab Solutions; Mumbai; On-site; INR 2,500,000 - 4,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Happylab Solutions in Mumbai is seeking a senior product leader to own end-to-end nutraceutical development, from concept to market, including formulation, cost, and compliance.

You will collaborate with the Founder, manage GMP/HACCP compliance, lead a cross-functional team, and build an agile product function for fast-scaling health brands.

Qualifications

• 7 to 10 years in nutraceuticals, dietary supplements, functional foods, or consumer health.
• A demonstrable track record of taking products from concept to market with direct ownership across formulation, cost, and compliance.
• Working knowledge of GMP, HACCP, ISO 22000 or FSSC 22000, and quality management systems.

Responsibilities

• Define product strategy and pipeline and own go/no-go decisions on concepts and sequencing.
• Lead formulation end-to-end including ingredient selection, clinically meaningful dosing, and evidence-backed claims.
• Manage manufacturing relationships, vendor selection, audits, tech transfer, scale-up, and batch consistency.
• Build BOMs and optimize costs to meet target gross margins without compromising efficacy.
• Establish NPD SOPs, stage-gate processes, and testing protocols for stability, sensory, heavy metals, and microbiology.
• Oversee packaging development and ensure regulatory compliance (FSSAI, legal labelling, GST, ASCI).
• Lead and grow the product, formulation, QA, and regulatory teams.

Skills

Product strategy

Team leadership

Quality management

GMP/HACCP/ISO 22000

Cost optimization

Education

Bachelors in Food Science/Technology, Pharmacy, Nutrition or related field

Postgraduate qualification (MSc/MTech/PhD) or CFTRI/NIFTEM/NIN/NIPER training

Job description

About the job

Key responsibilities

• Product strategy and pipeline: Work closely with the Founder to refine and execute the product roadmap, owning go or no-go decisions on concept, sequencing, margin, and differentiation.


• Market and scientific intelligence: Maintain a granular understanding of the Indian supplements market and continuously monitor international markets, including the US, EU, Japan, Korea, and Australia, to identify emerging ingredients, formats, and consumer trends before they reach India.


• Formulation and R&D: Lead formulation end to end, including ingredient selection, clinically meaningful dosing, use of branded and clinically studied actives, delivery format, bioavailability, stability, and palatability, ensuring every claim is supported by published evidence.


• Manufacturing and supply: Own relationships with contract manufacturers and future owned production, including vendor selection, qualification, audits, technology transfer, scale-up, and batch-to-batch consistency.


• Cost and margin management: Build and manage the bill of materials and cost structure for every SKU, value engineering formulations and specifications to meet target gross margins without compromising efficacy.


• Systems and SOPs: Establish the new product development function from the ground up, including stage-gate processes, specifications, documentation, and testing protocols covering stability, sensory, third-party, heavy-metal, and microbiological analysis.


• Packaging and regulatory compliance: Oversee packaging development end to end and ensure full compliance with FSSAI Nutraceutical Regulations, Legal Metrology labelling requirements, GST classification, claims substantiation, ASCI advertising norms, and ingredient import requirements.


• Team leadership: Build and lead the product, formulation, quality assurance, and regulatory team, developing long-term organisational capability.

The ideal candidate

• Formulates for the Indian consumer context, including prevalent deficiencies such as iron, vitamin D3, B12, and protein, local taste preferences, premium price sensitivity, and product stability under Indian climatic conditions.


• Doses actives at clinically effective levels and addresses cost pressures through sourcing and formulation rather than by reducing actives below effective doses.


• Distinguishes genuinely branded, clinically studied ingredients from commodity alternatives, and understands how sourcing decisions affect both claims and cost.


• Treats taste and mixability as core to product performance, given their direct impact on repeat purchase.


• Is fluent across delivery formats, including capsules, tablets, softgels, powders, effervescents, gummies, oral strips, and multi-phase systems, and their respective cost and efficacy trade-offs.


• Regards proprietary clinical evidence and intellectual property as long-term competitive advantages.

Experience and qualifications

• 7 to 10 years or more years in nutraceuticals, dietary supplements, functional foods, or consumer health.


• A demonstrable track record of taking products from concept to market that went on to achieve commercial success, with direct ownership across formulation, cost, and compliance.


• Working knowledge of GMP, HACCP, ISO 22000 or FSSC 22000, and quality management systems.


• Proven experience building and leading high-performing teams.

Education

• A degree in food science or food technology, pharmacy, nutrition and dietetics, biochemistry, biotechnology, chemistry, or nutraceutical science.


• A postgraduate qualification such as an MSc, M.Tech, or PhD, or training from an institution such as CFTRI, ICT Mumbai, NIFTEM, NIN, or NIPER, or a reputed international programme, is strongly preferred. A Registered Dietitian qualification is an advantage.

Preferred background

• Experience at a leading D2C wellness or nutrition brand, the consumer health or nutraceutical division of a pharmaceutical or FMCG company, a global supplement or branded ingredient company, or as an R&D or NPD leader at a premium contract manufacturer.

Key performance indicators

• Speed and predictability of concept-to-market timelines.


• Commercial success rate of new product launches.


• Achievement of target gross margin per SKU without compromising product claims.


• Product quality metrics, including batch-failure, complaint, and return rates, and stability pass rates.


• Regulatory compliance record.


• Cost savings delivered through value engineering.

What we offer

• End-to-end ownership of the product function at a fast-scaling, science-first brand.


• A high-growth category with significant tailwinds and active mergers and acquisitions interest.


• A senior leadership position with genuine decision-making authority and direct access to the Founder.


• Competitive compensation at the top of the band for this level, including meaningful equity.