Head of R&D / Product Development

Cha Cha Matcha; New York (NY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Cha Cha Matcha seeks a hands-on Head of R&D / Product Development to own the beverage and menu innovation cycle from concept to store rollout. The role collaborates with supply chain, marketing, and operations to deliver scalable, market-ready products across matcha and coffee categories.

Ideal candidates possess strong flavor intuition, formulation expertise, and experience scaling prototypes for a growing café network in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in beverage R&D, food science, product development, culinary innovation, or related field.
• Experience developing beverages for cafés, restaurants, or multi-unit brands.
• Deep understanding of beverage formulation, ingredient functionality, and cost considerations.
• Strong palate and ability to translate innovation into scalable, store-ready products.
• Experience working with ingredient suppliers, manufacturers, and co-packers.

Responsibilities

• Lead formulation and development of new beverages, seasonal products, foods, and menu innovations.
• Develop products from concept through testing, refinement, commercialization, and launch.
• Build new recipes across matcha, coffee, syrups, concentrates, and other categories.
• Improve existing Cha Cha products for taste, texture, consistency, quality.

Skills

Beverage R&D

Product development

Food science

Culinary innovation

Ingredient sourcing

Costing & margins

Co-packers & suppliers

Project management

Multi-unit operations

Fast-moving environment

Job description

Role Overview

The Head of R&D / Product Development will own Cha Cha Matcha’s product development process from concept through commercialization.

This role is open to candidates based in Miami, New York City, or Los Angeles. Given the highly hands-on and collaborative nature of the position, candidates should be based in one of these markets and available to work closely with our teams, stores, suppliers, and partners as needed.

This person will be responsible for developing new beverages and products, improving existing recipes, sourcing high-quality ingredients, working with suppliers and manufacturers, and ensuring every product can be executed consistently across a growing store network.

The ideal candidate combines strong formulation and culinary instincts with an understanding of ingredient functionality, sourcing, cost, scalability, and café operations.

This is a highly hands-on role. You should be equally comfortable developing a new matcha latte in the test kitchen, evaluating syrups and concentrates with suppliers, adjusting an existing recipe to improve taste and consistency, and creating the final specifications required to roll the product out across stores.

Key Responsibilities

Product Development & Formulation

• Lead formulation and development of new beverages, seasonal products, food items, and menu innovations
• Develop products from initial concept through testing, refinement, commercialization, and launch
• Build new recipes across matcha, coffee, cold foam, syrups, concentrates, functional beverages, and other emerging categories
• Continuously improve existing Cha Cha products for taste, texture, consistency, ingredient quality, and customer experience
• Benchmark Cha Cha products against leading products and trends in the broader beverage and food industry
• Conduct structured product testing and tastings and incorporate feedback into formulations

Product Quality & Menu Optimization

• Regularly review the existing menu and identify opportunities to improve recipes and ingredients
• Ensure drinks maintain the intended flavor, appearance, texture, and quality across every location
• Simplify recipes where possible without sacrificing quality
• Improve preparation methods to increase consistency and speed of service
• Identify products or ingredients that should be reformulated, replaced, or removed
• Establish clear product standards for each menu item
• Source best-in-class ingredients including matcha, coffee, milk alternatives, syrups, concentrates, fruit products, flavorings, sweeteners, dairy products, and other inputs
• Identify and evaluate new ingredient suppliers, manufacturers, and co-packers
• Negotiate and work closely with suppliers on custom formulations and proprietary ingredients
• Evaluate ingredients based on taste, quality, functionality, cost, shelf life, availability, and scalability
• Develop alternative suppliers and ingredients to improve supply-chain reliability
• Stay ahead of new ingredients, technologies, and trends within food and beverage
• Ensure new products are designed to work operationally across a growing multi-unit café business
• Build detailed product specifications, recipes, preparation methods, and ingredient standards
• Work with operations to test products in real store environments before broader rollout
• Ensure products can be produced consistently regardless of location
• Partner with suppliers and co-packers to scale proprietary syrups, concentrates, cold foams, bases, and other components

Cost & Margin Optimization

• Understand the cost of every ingredient and component within a product
• Work with leadership and operations to develop products that balance quality with strong unit economics
• Calculate and monitor recipe costs and beverage COGS
• Identify opportunities to improve margins without negatively impacting the customer experience
• Evaluate portion sizes, ingredient usage, yields, and waste

Launches & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with marketing, operations, supply chain, store teams, and leadership on new product launches
• Build and manage the R&D calendar around seasonal launches, collaborations, and strategic menu initiatives
• Ensure products are finalized, sourced, documented, and tested ahead of launch dates
• Support training materials and product education for store teams
• Collaborate with marketing to translate product innovation into compelling customer-facing stories

Systems & Documentation

• Maintain a centralized library of approved recipes and product specifications
• Establish a clear R&D testing and approval process
• Maintain formulation records, ingredient specifications, supplier information, and costing
• Create standardized testing procedures for new ingredients and products
• Ensure recipe changes are properly documented and communicated throughout the organization

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of experience in beverage R&D, food science, product development, culinary innovation, or a related field
• Strong experience developing beverages for cafés, restaurants, CPG brands, or multi-unit food and beverage businesses
• Deep understanding of beverage formulation and ingredient functionality
• Strong palate with excellent instincts around flavor, texture, balance, and product quality
• Experience working with ingredient suppliers, manufacturers, and co-packers
• Ability to take products from an idea through commercial-scale execution
• Strong understanding of recipe costing and product economics
• Highly organized and comfortable managing multiple development projects simultaneously
• Hands-on, curious, experimental, and highly detail-oriented
• Comfortable operating in a fast-moving entrepreneurial environment

Bonus Points

• Food science or culinary development background
• Experience developing syrups, concentrates, cold foams, or beverage bases
• Experience working with co-packers and custom formulation houses
• Understanding of shelf life, food safety, ingredient labeling, and regulatory requirements
• Experience developing products for both foodservice and retail/CPG channels

What Success Looks Like

• Cha Cha consistently launches products that customers genuinely love and talk about
• Existing products become better, more consistent, and easier to execute
• New products move efficiently from concept to launch
• Every major recipe has clear specifications and standardized preparation methods
• Ingredient quality improves while product costs remain disciplined
• Cha Cha develops stronger proprietary ingredients and formulations that competitors cannot easily replicate
• Store teams can execute products consistently without overly complicated procedures
• R&D becomes a repeatable system rather than a last-minute process
• Cha Cha continues to build a reputation as one of the most innovative beverage brands in the market
• Iconic, culture-driven brand with significant growth ahead
• Opportunity to shape the future of the Cha Cha menu
• Direct influence over products experienced by customers every day
• Ability to build proprietary products, ingredients, and formulations
• Fast-moving and entrepreneurial environment
• Opportunity to help scale Cha Cha from a leading café brand into a much larger food and beverage platform