Director of R&D & Product Development

Bio-Botanica® is a family-owned and operated company specializing in botanical extracts for over 50 years. We are a leading manufacturer of 500+ quality botanical extracts for cosmetic, dietary supplement, food, and beverage industries. A well-recognized industry innovator known for pioneering numerous advancements in the botanical field, we pride ourselves on long-term customer relationships developed since 1972, based on both flexibility and versatility in manufacturing products tailored to a broad range of applications. In addition to our B2B services, our branded products, led by our flagship Nature’s Answer® brand, are carried in retail stores throughout the U.S. and internationally.

Under the direction of the COO, the Director of R&D and Product Development provides strategic leadership and oversees company-wide research, development, and technical execution across botanical extraction, dietary supplements, cosmetics, and ingredient development. This role serves as the organization’s scientific subject-matter expert and technical authority, driving innovation, product development, and scientific excellence across all relevant disciplines.

• Partner with Marketing, Business Development, Regulatory, Quality, Operations, and external stakeholders to define, provide feedback on, and oversee product development opportunities, aligning them with corporate strategies and capabilities.
• Act as the corporate scientific resource with external stakeholders (virtual meetings, in person meetings and facility tours, trade shows, prospective customer calls) to demonstrate the corporate scientific knowledge, technical approach, and robust capabilities around new product development.
• Oversee all technical formulation and product development, including scientific literature review, ingredient sourcing, formulation and manufacturing process design, and product specification and analytical method development.
• Design and implement botanical extraction techniques. Optimize extraction parameters, target active components, maximize yields, and develop analytical support around testing, characterization, and quality.
• Develop new dietary supplements, cosmetics, and novel ingredients with attention to ingredient selection, label claim and overage compliance, product characteristics, and formulation stability.
• Direct bench-scale testing, pilot trials, and transfer to full-scale commercial manufacturing.
• Lead, mentor, and train the R&D formulation team to ensure development project milestones, bench-to-scale feasibility, deliverables accuracy, and timing expectations are met.
• Collaborate with the Purchasing team in material sourcing efforts, including identifying sources for hard-to-find ingredients, ensuring supplier and material quality, and aligning materials with formulation requirements (material potency, Non-GMO, Organic, etc).
• Ensure all product development effort and documentation aligns with required regulatory requirements, including FDA, FTC, cGMP, safety, and international standards.

Education and Experience:

• BS in chemistry, biology, or related scientific discipline required. M.S. or Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry or Pharmacognosy preferred.
• 7+ years in botanical extraction, dietary supplement, nutraceutical, novel ingredient, or functional food product development and formulation.
• 3+ years in a leadership or managerial role directly overseeing scientific teams.
• Proven track record of scaling benchtop formulations to commercial production
• Good interpersonal and communications skills, able to work in a cooperative environment and cross-functional team.