Product Development Engineer

Ultra Pouches•Frankfort, KY

1d•$110,000 - $140,000•Onsite

About The Position

As Product Development Engineer at ULTRA, you’ll join the core team at The ULTRA Compound, our dedicated R&D facility. You’ll own the full lifecycle of oral pouch product development—from initial bench formulation through scale-up, co-manufacturer transfer, and commercial launch. You’ll work across flavor systems, active ingredient delivery, sensory evaluation, and process engineering, with direct exposure to every part of how a product becomes a SKU on the shelf. The right candidate is technically rigorous, resourceful, and comfortable in an environment where you’re expected to figure things out. Experience with oral drug delivery, nutraceutical formulation, or food science is a strong foundation.

Requirements

B.S. or higher in Food Science, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a closely related field.
2+ years of hands-on formulation in oral pouch products.
You’ve supported or led product scale-up and transfer to co-manufacturers.
You write clear, precise technical documentation: batch records, development reports, co-manufacturer briefs.
You’re comfortable operating lab equipment independently—granulators, analytical balances, pH meters, water activity meters.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience with oral drug or supplement delivery systems (buccal, sublingual, lozenge, pouch).
Sensory science background or structured panel experience.
Working knowledge of DSHEA, 21 CFR Part 111, and dietary supplement labeling regulations.
Experience with dissolution testing or in vitro release method development.

Responsibilities

Formulation Development: Design and iterate on novel formulations, flavors, and active ingredient delivery systems. Evaluate excipients with a clear rationale grounded in function and regulatory compliance. Manage water activity, pH, and dissolution characteristics to meet both product performance and stability targets. Document all formulations with version-controlled batch records, ingredient specs, and processing notes.
Raw Material Evaluation: Source, screen, and qualify new raw materials (flavor, functional, and excipient categories). Review supplier COAs, SDS documents, and technical data sheets; flag specification gaps or quality concerns. Evaluate novel active ingredients and delivery-enhancing compounds for potential integration into existing or new product lines. Maintain working knowledge of ingredient regulatory status.
Co-Manufacturer Commercialization: Lead technical transfer of bench formulations to co-manufacturing partners, including preparation of co-manufacturer briefs, processing instructions, and critical quality attributes. Own scale-up troubleshooting—identify root causes of performance deltas between bench, pilot, and production scale and drive resolution. Participate in production trials and line qualifications at co-manufacturing sites; document outcomes and manage change controls. Serve as the primary technical point of contact with co-manufacturers for your product lines.
Sensory Testing: Design and execute structured sensory evaluations for taste, texture, mouthfeel, and effect perception across formulation iterations. Build and analyze panelist data sets; apply statistical reasoning to identify meaningful performance trends across formulas. Translate sensory feedback into actionable formulation hypotheses and iterate accordingly.
Quality & Regulatory Support: Support development of product specifications, in-process testing protocols, and finished goods release criteria. Maintain documentation practices consistent with 21 CFR Part 111 cGMP requirements.