Senior Beverage Innovator & Project Lead

Wildflower Recruitment Consulting; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Wildflower Recruitment Consulting seeks a Senior Beverage Developer to lead concept-to-commercialization of beverages, partnering with customers, sales and innovation teams in San Diego. You will design formulations, validate processes and guide costed scale-up using a broad portfolio of natural ingredients.

The ideal candidate brings 10+ years in beverage development, strong project management, and deep knowledge of beverage processing technologies.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related scientific discipline.
• 10+ years of beverage development experience from concept through commercialization.
• Strong knowledge of beverage processing technologies and manufacturing methods.
• Excellent organizational, project management, and multitasking skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop innovative beverage solutions utilizing flavors, flavor systems, functional ingredients, and coffee & tea extracts.
• Lead beverage development projects from concept through commercialization, including formulation, stability testing, documentation, and costing.
• Develop a wide range of beverage applications including carbonated beverages, functional drinks, ready-to-drink beverages, and coffee/tea-based beverages.
• Apply beverage processing knowledge including pasteurization, homogenization, hot-fill processing, carbonation, and canning.
• Build strong technical relationships with customers and support customer visits and ideation sessions alongside the sales team.
• Participate in innovation presentations, rapid prototyping, and new product concept development.
• Support pilot trials and production runs during product commercialization.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously while meeting timelines and technical milestones.
• Support lifecycle management initiatives focused on cost reduction and margin optimization.
• Maintain accurate laboratory documentation and follow GLP, ISO procedures, and safety standards.

Skills

Project management

Beverage development

Customer collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Food Science/ Food Engineering/ Chemistry

Job description

Wildflower Recruitment Consulting seeks a Senior Beverage Developer to lead concept-to-commercialization of beverages, partnering with customers, sales and innovation teams in San Diego. You will design formulations, validate processes and guide costed scale-up using a broad portfolio of natural ingredients.

The ideal candidate brings 10+ years in beverage development, strong project management, and deep knowledge of beverage processing technologies.