Product Development Lead - R&D

Sterling Foods•San Antonio, TX

About The Position

The Product Development Lead serves as a shared resource supporting R&D and Retail Sales in the development and commercialization of food products and solutions for commercial customers, primarily national and multi-unit restaurant and foodservice customers, including coffeehouse concepts. The role is a key link between customers, Sales, and R&D, translating customer needs, culinary concepts, and market opportunities into viable product development projects. The position participates in customer meetings, product presentations, trials, and tastings, and partners closely with R&D to move products from concept through commercialization. The role involves hands-on product development, including formulating and testing products, preparing prototypes and samples, conducting sensory evaluations, refining formulations, and supporting customer review and approval. It also supports plant trials, scale-up, production testing, and full-scale commercialization while coordinating with Quality, Regulatory, Operations, Supply Chain, and other teams. The position manages multiple projects, maintains development documentation, evaluates product feasibility and performance, supports Sales and customer needs, and monitors foodservice and consumer trends. Regular travel to customer locations, trials, meetings, and industry events is required. Work takes place in both office and food manufacturing environments, with compliance with applicable PPE, GMP, sanitation, food safety, and safety requirements in production areas.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Culinary Arts, Food Technology, Business, Marketing, Hospitality, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
10 years of experience in food product development, culinary development, food manufacturing, foodservice, or a related field.
Experience developing or supporting food products for commercial customers.
Knowledge of food ingredients, product development, manufacturing processes, specifications, and commercialization.
Experience working directly with customers and translating customer needs into product requirements.
Understanding of restaurant operations and foodservice trends.
Strong project management, analytical, communication, presentation, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to collaborate effectively across R&D, Sales, Quality, Operations, and Supply Chain.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
Ability and willingness to travel regularly.

Nice To Haves

Culinary degree or professional culinary training.
Experience with national restaurant chains, QSRs, fast-casual, casual dining, coffeehouse concepts, or other large foodservice customers.
Experience taking products from concept through commercialization and full-scale production.
Experience with food manufacturing, co-manufacturing, foodservice, or restaurant operations.
Knowledge of food cost modeling, sensory evaluation, consumer testing, and product optimization.
Familiarity with HACCP, GMPs, SQF, FSMA, and other food safety systems.
Experience presenting products or concepts to customers or executive-level audiences.
Established relationships within the restaurant or foodservice industry.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary product development liaison between R&D, Sales, and commercial customers.
Participate in customer meetings to understand product needs, culinary concepts, operational requirements, and opportunities for innovation.
Develop, formulate, and test products hands-on in response to customer requests, specifications, concepts, and business opportunities.
Translate customer requirements into product concepts, formulations, prototypes, specifications, and development plans.
Work with R&D and culinary teams to create, test, taste, refine, and optimize products from concept through customer approval.
Develop prototypes and samples, conduct sensory evaluations, make formulation adjustments, and prepare products for customer review and feedback.
Coordinate and participate in plant trials, scale-up activities, and production testing to confirm consistent performance beyond the bench.
Identify opportunities to improve existing products through ingredient changes, formulation adjustments, process improvements, cost optimization, and enhanced performance.
Support Sales with customer presentations, product demonstrations, tastings, prototypes, new business opportunities, and pricing initiatives.
Collaborate with Quality, Regulatory, Operations, Supply Chain, and other cross-functional teams to ensure products meet customer specifications, food safety requirements, quality standards, and manufacturing capabilities.
Evaluate product feasibility, including ingredients, formulation, cost, yield, packaging, processing requirements, equipment capabilities, and scalability.
Manage multiple product development projects, maintaining timelines, customer requirements, documentation, and commercialization milestones.
Monitor restaurant, foodservice, culinary, and consumer trends to identify product concepts, ingredients, applications, and innovation opportunities.
Support the transition from bench development to pilot or plant trials and full-scale commercialization.
Maintain accurate product formulations, specifications, samples, development records, project documentation, and customer requirements.
Help troubleshoot and resolve product, formulation, quality, and customer issues through hands-on testing and cross-functional collaboration.
Travel regularly to customer locations, product trials, meetings, culinary events, and industry events as needed.
Perform other duties as assigned.