Head of New Product Development

The Head of Product Development will be responsible to guide the technical aspects of new product development at Clara Foods. This individual will work closely with the Marketing, R&D and our partners to develop value propositions for the new proteins in order to establish performance standards for new products as well as identify the most attractive target categories/customers for the products.

Job Title: Head of New Product Development

Reports to: Chief Operating Officer

FLSA Status: Exempt, Full Time

Location: Remote temporarily until we transition back to office in South San Francisco, CA

Role and Responsibilities:

• Lead the Product Team and serve as technical voice-of-customer for internal Ingredient New Product Development, working closely with Marketing and R&D, establish targets for specifications and performance for Clara proteins in selected applications while developing robust value propositions to guide development projects.
• Support Marketing and Commercial teams to implement the three-year business plan for the new protein products developed by Clara Foods
• In conjunction with our Sales Team and partner distributor(s), support and participate in technology-based discussions with customers, primarily with the R&D and technology groups to establish NPD projects ultimately leading to sales.
• Develop and maintain a strong working technical and applications knowledge of the target categories and the competitive environment to facilitate business development efforts. Pro-actively provide applications/category competitive intelligence to appropriate sales, marketing and R&D personnel.
• Provide technical understanding of products and the product value proposition to the Marketing and Sales team and support initial sales activity with the goal of meeting short and long-term targets for revenue, profitability and market share.
• Support Clara participation at trade shows and other technical venues to build knowledge and identify new prospects.
• In partnership with Marketing, analyze the leading players in target categories to determine which should be most receptive to incorporate into new protein product offerings, and implement these learnings in Clara NPD programs.
• Monitor and track NPD performance and benchmark best practices to drive continuous improvement.
• Monitor and track competitive products in the microflora-derived ingredient space.

Qualifications and Education Requirements:

• Bachelors’ Degree in Food Science or other relevant scientific, engineering, or business discipline. Additionally, an MBA is a plus.
• 7 to 10 years of experience in a food industry company, preferably in a B2B food ingredient supplier.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States for Clara Foods

Preferred Skills and Abilities:

• Experience at a high-growth startup in the ingredient, flavor, agricultural and food a plus!
• Significant direct and practical Business development, New Ingredient product development, Marketing and Technical experience in food or specialty ingredients.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills, both in creation and execution
• Demonstrated analytical and problem-solving skills required.
• Strong Interpersonal and leadership skills
• Ability to interact effectively with all levels of the organization and in a variety of cultures – both internal and external.
• Available to travel domestically approximately 10-20%.
• Ability to take risks to achieve desired results
• Ability to adapt and support others through change, ambiguity and complexity
• Ability to anticipate customer needs and proactively create new solutions and operate with a sense of urgency

What Clara can offer:

• Generous benefits package; 100% medical, dental, and vision employee coverage, 401k matching, and stock options
• Optional benefits; FSA, HSA, Commuter, Pet Care, and additional life insurance
• Flexible PTO
• Free parking, unlimited gym access, lounge, mini-golf patio, yoga and fitness classes onsite
• Unlimited supply of sparkling water, granola bars, snacks, local coffee and tea
• Weekly themed happy hours and quarterly company outings
• Monthly all-hands meetings and 1:1 with CEO and leadership
• Close to South San Francisco BART and Cal Train stations, including free shuttle service

About Clara Foods™

Clara Foods™ is a Bay Area venture capital-backed company working towards a disruptive advance in food technology by producing animal proteins without the animal using fermentation. We join a new generation of entrepreneurs, activists and scientists who recognize that the decades-old factory farm model cannot sustain the dietary needs of 7 billion people and counting - and that technology may hold a solution.

As much as the growing market demands for animal protein production exert pressure on food producers to improve their efficiencies and outputs, there is also growing public distaste for the environmental, animal welfare, and health compromises of industrial-scale animal agriculture.

Clara Foods™ aims to subvert this moral and economic deadlock by taking the animal out of the equation. We’re bringing products to the table that are produced completely animal-free, use less land and water inputs, while matching the taste, nutritional value, and unique culinary properties of animal proteins.

How to apply