Product Development Manager

White Bottle Inc.; Stanton (CA); Hybrid; USD 135,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

White Bottle, Inc. is seeking a Product Development Manager to serve as the primary technical contact for new and existing customers. You will lead R&D and drive innovation in dry dose nutraceutical formulations, ensuring development from concept through commercialization with FDA and cGMP adherence.

You will manage the full product development lifecycle, translate client visions into actionable plans, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to meet aggressive timelines and cost targets.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a science, engineering, or related field.
• 7+ years in product development, R&D, or technical operations in nutraceutical/food manufacturing.
• Strong client-facing experience and ability to translate vision into formulations.

Responsibilities

• Direct end-to-end technical intake for new customers and translate visions into development plans.
• Lead R&D and ensure regulatory compliance with FDA and cGMP guidelines.
• Oversee product development lifecycle from ideation to pilot production and commercialization.
• Maintain NPD timelines, launch calendars, and milestone checklists.
• Provide strategic leadership to the technical operations team and scale staff as needed.
• Collaborate with Supply Chain for ingredient sourcing and pricing.

Skills

Product Development

Client Interaction

Regulatory Compliance

R&D Management

Team Leadership

Project Management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a related field

Job description

White Bottle, Inc. is seeking a highly motivated and forward-thinking Product Development Manager who will act as the primary technical point of contact for new and existing customers. This individual will be leading the technical intake process to translate the clients vision into commercially viable high-quality formulas. You will lead R&D and drive innovation in dry dose formats (capsules and powders), and ensure all products are developed seamlessly from concept through commercialization while adhering strictly to FDA and cGMP guidelines.

Key Responsibilities

Client Relationship Management

• Direct the end-to-end technical intake process for new customers, serving as the bridge between client product visions and commercially viable nutraceutical formulation.
• Act as a collaborative partner to clients, translating their product visions into actionable development plans and custom formulas.
• Champion client relationship management by prioritizing technical requests and managing escalations to ensure a high-quality onboarding experience.
• Drive business development efforts by providing expert technical consultation during customer pitches, ensuring development strategy aligns with market-ready nutraceutical formulation.
• Manage the full product development lifecycle, overseeing every stage from initial ideation and feasibility to pilot production and successful commercialization.
• Maintain accurate New Product Development (NPD) timelines, launch calendars, and milestone checklists.

R&D Management

• Provide strategic R&D team leadership, mentoring a high-performing technical operations team to achieve scientific excellence in dry dose nutraceutical formulation.
• Contribute to building and scaling the White Bottle product development staff as business needs continue to grow.
• Troubleshoot and provide hands-on support to production teams during the first commercial batch and post-launch.
• Ensure all R&D activities strictly comply with regulatory requirements, FDA guidelines, cGMP regulations, and company SOPs.

Product Development

• Oversee the creation of formulas, calculate potencies, document raw materials, establish product specifications, and draft manufacturing directions.
• Identify new technologies and ingredients to improve current formulas, optimizing manufacturing efficiency and overall product quality.
• Design and implement scalable product development processes, SOPs, and workflows as the company grows.
• Generate technical reports, proposals, and presentations to communicate formulation options, ingredients, and recommendations clearly to customers.
• Operate with urgency to meet aggressive development timelines and fast-track product launches.
• Lead dry dose formulation and technical operations teams to deliver high-quality products on time, with a primary focus on capsules and powders.
• Troubleshoot and provide hands-on support to production teams during the first commercial batch and post-launch.
• Track products from ingredient sourcing and pilot testing through packaging, production planning, and final release.
• Balance formulation excellence with cost targets, scalability, and manufacturability to support customer margin goals.
• Stay ahead of ingredient, formulation, and market trends to proactively bring innovative product concepts to customers.
• Collaborate with Supply Chain and Procurement teams for ingredient sourcing and accurate product pricing.
• Represent the R&D department externally when working with new and existing raw material suppliers

Required Experience and Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Chemistry, Food Science, Biochemistry, Pharmaceutical Science, or a related field.
• 3+ years of experience of supervisory experience
• 7+ years of expertise in the product development lifecycle, R&D management, or technical operations within the nutraceutical or food manufacturing industry.
• Proven track record of working directly with clients, managing customer intake, and guiding partners through the custom formulation process.
• Strong understanding of scientific principles, dietary supplement ingredients, formulation development, and large-scale manufacturing operations.
• Deep knowledge of cGMP regulations and strict supplement compliance guidelines.
• Exceptional problem-solving, project management, organizational, and leadership skills. Ability to handle rapidly changing priorities with minimal supervision.

Language

• Ability to read, write, and speak English fluently.
• This role is primarily office-based and could include frequent visits to the production floor.
• Requires standing and walking between production buildings as needed.
• Must be able to safely walk up and down stairs without assistance.
• Must be able to safely lift up to 25lbs unaided and perform tasks that require bending, crouching, and lifting throughout the shift.
• Frequently exposed to varying extreme conditions and loud noise levels.
• Regular use of standard office equipment, including computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets, and fax machines.
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is required for various environments.