Sr. Beverage Developer

Vibrant Ingredients•Cranbury, NJ

7d•Onsite

About The Position

Vibrant Ingredients is hiring a Sr. Beverage Developer to support growth in its beverage and flavor categories. The role works directly with customers, sales teams, and internal innovation teams to develop beverage solutions using the company’s natural ingredient portfolio. The ideal candidate is a technically experienced beverage professional with project management skills and a strong interest in helping customers bring new beverage concepts to market. The position leads beverage development projects from concept through commercialization, including formulation, stability testing, documentation, and costing. It develops applications across carbonated, functional, ready-to-drink, and coffee- and tea-based beverages, and supports customer ideation, innovation presentations, rapid prototyping, pilot trials, and production runs. The role also manages multiple projects, supports lifecycle initiatives focused on cost and margin, and maintains laboratory records in accordance with GLP, ISO procedures, and safety standards. The position is classified as on-site and may involve exposure to allergens, including soy, wheat, fish, shellfish, milk, egg, tree nuts, and sesame. Travel of up to 25% is required. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States without current or future employer sponsorship; visa sponsorship is not provided.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemistry, or a related scientific discipline.
10 or more years of beverage development experience in the flavor, ingredient, beverage, or CPG industry.
Demonstrated ability to develop beverages from concept through commercialization.
Strong knowledge of beverage processing technologies and manufacturing methods.
Excellent organizational, project management, and multitasking skills.
Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to collaborate with customers and cross-functional teams.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, and Word) and CRM tools such as Salesforce.
Ability to travel up to 25%.
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship now or in the future.

Responsibilities

Develop beverage solutions using flavors, flavor systems, functional ingredients, and coffee and tea extracts.
Lead beverage development projects from concept through commercialization, including formulation, stability testing, documentation, and costing.
Develop carbonated beverages, functional drinks, ready-to-drink beverages, and coffee- and tea-based beverages.
Apply beverage processing knowledge, including pasteurization, homogenization, hot-fill processing, carbonation, and canning.
Build 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 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.