VP Research and Product Development

Prenetics; New York (NY); On-site; USD 250,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

IM8, the health and longevity brand co-founded by Prenetics, seeks a senior R&D leader to own formulation, ingredient strategy, quality, and manufacturing partnerships. You will turn consumer insights and scientific evidence into trusted products across powders, gummies, liquids and new formats.

In this hands-on role, you will build the roadmap, guide technical decisions, and lead teams to deliver launches with strong unit economics and believable consumer claims.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in nutritional supplements, functional food or beverage or consumer health R&D.
• 5+ years leading formulation and quality teams.
• Deep knowledge of vitamins, minerals, botanicals, probiotics and prebiotics.
• Experience with US contract manufacturers.
• Commercial mindset with focus on COGS, margin and price.
• AI-native mindset with ability to implement AI tools.

Responsibilities

• Own the R&D roadmap end to end, from concept and white-space identification through launch and lifecycle management.
• Spot consumer and category trends early - ingredients, claims, formats and channels and turn them into a prioritised pipeline with clear business cases.
• Lead new delivery formats beyond powder, gummy and liquid, judging each on consumer appeal, stability, cost and scalability.
• Partner with Marketing, Growth and Finance so every launch has a target consumer, a price point, a margin and a claim it can defend.
• Own quality across the portfolio: specifications, testing protocols and release criteria.
• Lead third-party certifications and audits appropriate to the portfolio and consumer promise.

Skills

R&D leadership

Formulation leadership

Quality management

AI tools usage

Commercial instincts

Education

Degree in food science or related field (MS/PhD preferred)

Tools

US contract manufacturers experience

Regulatory knowledge (DS/labels/claims)

Job description

IM8 is a next-generation health and longevity brand co-founded by David Beckham and Prenetics (NASDAQ: PRE), on a mission to make world-class nutritional science accessible to everyone. Launched in late 2024, IM8 has raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $220M-$230M in its second year of operations.

Our flagship Daily Ultimate Essentials carries 90 active ingredients. We run randomised controlled trials on our products and hold a clinical-grade standard across the portfolio. As we grow, the strength of our science and the quality of every product must grow with us.

Our business is built on subscription. How our products work, how they taste and how consistently they deliver shape whether customers stay. Product development sits at the centre of that relationship.

Reporting directly to Danny Yeung, CEO, you will sit on the leadership team and own formulation, ingredient strategy, quality and manufacturing partnerships. You will turn consumer insight and scientific evidence into products customers choose, trust and keep using.

This is a hands-on leadership role with commercial accountability. You will build the roadmap, make the technical decisions and lead the team and partners that take products from concept to shelf. Every launch needs a clear consumer need, credible claims, strong unit economics and a reason for customers to come back.

The opportunity

We are hiring a VP, Research & Product Development to lead the next chapter of IM8’s product portfolio across powders, gummies, liquids and new delivery formats.

What You Will Own

• Own the R&D roadmap end to end, from concept and white-space identification through launch and lifecycle management.
• Spot consumer and category trends early - ingredients, claims, formats and channels and turn them into a prioritised pipeline with clear business cases.
• Lead new delivery formats beyond powder, gummy and liquid, judging each on consumer appeal, stability, cost and scalability.
• Partner with Marketing, Growth and Finance so every launch has a target consumer, a price point, a margin and a claim it can defend.

Commercial and entrepreneurial ownership

• Own the P&L impact of product decisions, from cost of goods and margin to retention and customer lifetime value.
• Move quickly from idea to shelf. Prototype early, test with consumers and stop projects when the evidence does not support them.
• Build the case for new categories, formats and markets. Make clear recommendations to the CEO, including the risks, investment and expected return.
• Find practical routes to scale through pilot runs, ingredient co-development and manufacturing partnerships. Build new capabilities where they create a clear advantage.

Formulation and ingredients

• Lead formulation across all IM8 formats: actives, dosing, bioavailability, taste, texture, solubility, stability and shelf life.
• Be the company’s ingredient authority. Know the branded and generic options, their evidence base, regulatory status, sourcing risk and cost.
• Drive continuous improvement on existing products: taste and mixability upgrades, cost-of-goods reduction, cleaner labels and reformulations, without breaking what customers love.
• Build and manage a supplier network for raw materials and branded ingredients, including qualification, pricing and dual-sourcing.

Quality and regulatory

• Own quality across the portfolio: specifications, testing protocols for identity, potency, microbial contamination and heavy metals, CoA review, stability programs and release criteria.
• Ensure compliance with applicable dietary supplement manufacturing, labeling and claims requirements, working with regulatory and legal specialists as needed.
• Lead third-party certifications and audits appropriate to the portfolio and consumer promise.
• Own investigations, corrective and preventive actions, change control and escalation of quality issues with manufacturing partners.

Manufacturing partnerships

• Own the technical and quality relationships with our US manufacturing partners, working closely with their formulation, operations and quality teams.
• Lead technology transfer, pilot trials and commercial scale-up, ensuring products meet specifications consistently at production scale.
• Partner with Operations on manufacturing costs, capacity, lead times and supply continuity; resolve production issues quickly and decisively.
• Qualify new partners and establish clear quality agreements, performance scorecards and contingency plans.

Scientific Advisory Board and clinical research

• Work closely with our Scientific Advisory Board to assess ingredients, review formulations and guide the research agenda.
• Translate scientific evidence into practical product decisions and credible, substantiated consumer claims.
• Oversee clinical research partners and product studies, connecting research priorities to the innovation roadmap.

Team and leadership

• Build and lead a high-performing R&D and quality function, combining hands-on technical leadership with clear priorities and accountability.
• Own development budgets, resource allocation and launch milestones, making pragmatic trade-offs between speed, quality and commercial return.
• Work closely with the CEO and leadership team to keep product development central to IM8’s growth strategy.

How Success Will Be Measured

In your first year, we will look for:

• A prioritised 18-24 month innovation roadmap, agreed with leadership, with business cases for each launch.
• At least 4 new products or formats launched on time, on spec and at target margin.
• Measurable COGS reduction and quality improvement on the core range, including fewer complaints and returns tied to product.
• Manufacturing partner scorecards in place, with a qualified second source for every critical product.
• An active, well-used Scientific Advisory Board, with a clear claims substantiation process.
• An AI-enabled R&D workflow running across the team, with visible gains in speed from idea to launch.

Who We Are Looking For

You are a senior R&D leader who combines scientific depth with the judgement and pace needed to build a consumer brand. You can work through a formulation with a manufacturer, defend a product business case with Finance and give the leadership team a clear recommendation.

You will bring

• 12+ years in nutritional supplements, functional food or beverage, or consumer health R&D, with 5+ years leading formulation and quality teams.
• A track record of launching commercially successful products across powders, gummies and liquids. Bring the examples and the numbers.
• Deep ingredient knowledge across vitamins, minerals, botanicals, probiotics and prebiotics, adaptogens, amino acids and branded actives, including efficacy, interactions, stability and sourcing.
• Hands-on experience with US contract manufacturers: technology transfer, scale-up, audits and partner management.
• Strong command of dietary supplement regulations, labeling, structure/function claims and quality systems.
• Experience working with scientific advisors, KOLs or clinical researchers, and turning evidence into claims a consumer understands.
• Commercial instinct. You think in COGS, margin and price point as naturally as in milligrams and mechanisms.
• An established habit of using AI tools in your work, with examples of how they have made you or your team faster or better.
• Degree in food science, nutrition, chemistry, pharmacology, biochemistry or a related field. MS or PhD preferred.

The Mindset Required

• Entrepreneurial ownership. You have helped build a fast-growing DTC or challenger brand, or built a function from scratch. You are comfortable with ambiguity and willing to do the hands-on work.
• Consumer understanding. You know the supplements landscape and can connect ingredients, formats and product experience to repeat purchase.
• Commercial judgement. You balance scientific ambition with consumer appeal, manufacturability and unit economics.
• Decisive collaboration. You earn credibility with scientists and manufacturing partners, make clear decisions and bring colleagues with you.
• High standards. You protect product quality while finding practical ways to keep development and launches moving.

You Must Be AI-Native

Daily, fluent use of AI is expected from day one. You should be able to show how it improves the quality and speed of your work, and build that capability across your team.

• Use AI daily for literature and patent review, ingredient and competitor scanning, formulation ideation and regulatory and claims research.
• Use AI and customer data - reviews, support tickets, subscription and churn signals to find unmet needs and test concepts before committing to development.
• Build AI tools into team workflows for specification and CoA review, supplier comparison, stability tracking, documentation and Scientific Advisory Board briefing packs.
• Set the standard for checking AI output, with human expert sign-off on anything touching safety, dosing, quality