Product Developer

Twelve NYC; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 72,000 - 98,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability,  

Hybrid work environment

Mental Health Mondays

Paid Time Off

Paid Parental Leave

Family planning and wellness benefits

Summer Fridays

Discretionary Bonuses

Job summary

Twelve Inc. in New York is seeking a Product Developer focused on Hydration to drive end-to-end development of drinkware and hydration products.

You will work with creative, engineering, sourcing, quality and factory teams to ensure brand, consumer experience, performance, cost, safety and manufacturability. The role demands strong technical execution, commercial judgment, and the ability to manage complex programs in a fast-paced, global environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of product development experience in hot and cold hydration or related consumer goods.
• Experience managing full product lifecycle from concept to production.
• Strong knowledge of materials and construction for drinkware.
• Experience reviewing samples and performance testing (leak, thermal, durability).
• Experience collaborating with domestic and overseas manufacturers.
• Strong costing and negotiation skills to balance target cost and quality.
• Clear communicator across design, sales, client, and factory teams.
• Familiarity with AI tools to streamline workflows.

Responsibilities

• Own multiple hydration programs simultaneously with timelines and budgets.
• Create detailed development schedules from concept handoff to production.
• Translate concepts into briefs, specs, BOMs, packaging, and factory comments.
• Develop specifications for bottles, tumblers, lids, and accessories.
• Evaluate prototypes for leak resistance, thermal performance, durability, and user experience.
• Collaborate with design, engineering, sourcing, quality, and factories.

Skills

Product development

Lifecycle management

Materials knowledge

Sample testing

Manufacturing coordination

Costing & negotiation

Communication

AI tools usage

Job description

About Twelve

Twelve designs and builds the world’s most inspiring merchandise and packaging for the world’s most coveted brands. With deep expertise across global production, creative innovation, and sustainability, we turn bold ideas into elevated, high-impact realities. Our clients—ranging from luxury fashion and beauty to leading lifestyle brands—trust us to deliver unforgettable experiences through beautifully executed product and packaging.

Position Summary

As a Product Developer focused on Hydration at Twelve, you will drive the end-to-end development of innovative, high-quality drinkware and hydration products, including bottles, tumblers, travel mugs, lids, straws, handles, and accessories. You will partner closely with creative, industrial design, engineering, sourcing, quality, and factory teams to bring concepts to life, ensuring each product delivers on brand, consumer experience, performance, cost, safety, and manufacturability. This role requires strong technical execution, commercial judgment, and the ability to manage complex product programs in a fast-paced, global environment.

Key Responsibilities

Client and Category Partnership

• Serve as the primary link between internal creative and industrial design teams, sourcing partners, and factories, ensuring seamless execution of hot and cold hydration products and packaging
• Develop a deep understanding of each client’s brand, target consumer, price point, and hydration strategy to deliver cohesive, commercially relevant assortments
• Collaborate with design, engineering, quality, and sales teams to introduce new materials, constructions, features, and manufacturing techniques into product development

Project Management & Product Development

• Own multiple hydration programs simultaneously, managing timelines, budgets, quality, and approvals across seasonal and evergreen assortments
• Build and maintain detailed development schedules covering concept handoff, costing, prototyping, testing, tooling, sampling, production, and delivery
• Navigate competing priorities with strong judgment, flexibility, urgency, and a solutions-oriented mindset
• Translate creative concepts into clear, actionable product briefs, technical specifications, bills of materials, packaging requirements, and factory comments
• Develop accurate specifications for bottles, tumblers, travel mugs, lids, straws, handles, seals, and related hydration accessories
• Evaluate and refine prototypes and samples for construction, ergonomics, leak resistance, thermal performance, durability, fit, finish, cleanability, and overall user experience

Sourcing and Costing

• Partner with domestic and international vendors to source materials, develop components, negotiate pricing, and execute multi-SKU hydration programs
• Balance target cost and margin with design integrity, performance, quality, packaging, tooling, freight, and brand standards

Qualifications

• 5+ years of product development experience in hot and cold hydration, drinkware, housewares, outdoor products, food and beverage containers, or a related consumer product category
• Proven ability to manage the full product lifecycle from concept and specification through prototyping, testing, tooling, production, and delivery
• Strong knowledge of stainless steel, ceramic, glass, copolyester, polypropylene, silicone, coatings, decoration methods, vacuum insulation, molding, metal forming, and assembly processes
• Experience reviewing product samples and performance testing, including leak, thermal, drop, durability, fit, finish, and cleanability
• Experience working directly with domestic and overseas manufacturing partners on technical development and production execution
• Strong costing and negotiation skills, with the ability to evaluate tooling, materials, packaging, freight, duties, and margin
• Clear and effective communicator across design, sales, client, and factory teams
• Working knowledge of food-contact materials, product safety, quality requirements, and responsible material selection is strongly preferre
• Working knowledge of AI tools (i.e. Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini), with the ability to apply them to streamline workflows, strengthen analysis, and improve business outcomes.

What You Can Expect:

• Full-Time Benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, Life)
• Hybrid work environment
• Mental Health Mondays: Once a month our offices close globally (that's an additional 12 days per year)
• Generous Paid Time Off -- Including your birthday, personal days, and time off around holidays
• Paid Parental Leave
• Family planning and wellness benefits
• Summer Fridays
• Discretionary Bonuses

Salary: $85k depending on experience

Twelve Inc. is committed to building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and everyone is encouraged to apply. It is the policy of the Company to prohibit discrimination of any type and to afford equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, alienage or citizenship status, disability, or handicap, marital status, familial status, veteran status, sexual orientation, arrest record, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.