Head of R&D

The Opportunity

As VP/Director of R&D at Climax Foods, you will oversee and guide all research activities at Climax Foods. You will work with leaders and teams across data science, protein functionality, chemical analytics, microbiology, and food science guiding Climax’s overall R&D strategy to achieve key company-wide product development milestones. You will utilize Climax's modeling, prototyping, and assay development pipeline to lead new product development and innovate on the existing product pipeline.

You will also work closely with leadership and business units to establish strategies to accomplish Climax Foods’ vision to accelerate the world’s transition away from environmentally toxic animal agriculture practices by developing best-in-class plant-based dairy products that can out-compete to their animal-derived counterparts in functionality, taste, smell, cost, and nutrition.

What You'll Do

• Oversee all R&D efforts at a heavily product-focused and transformative food technology startup.
• Provide leadership, planning, and key input to critical areas including ingredient technologies, data science, product development, process development, R&D strategy, and IP strategy.
• Guide and coordinate between the product development, data science, flavor science, microbiology/fermentation, and protein science teams to ensure progress towards key product development milestones.
• Take ownership of and deliver on research projects that align with key business initiatives.
• Assist leadership in developing a comprehensive research strategy designed to achieve company-wide product development milestones.
• Actively support Climax’s innovation process all the way from brainstorming and ideation sessions to execution and commercialization strategy.
• Monitor and analyze scientific developments across all areas of R&D and disseminate critical information and takeaways to key stakeholders.
• Constantly be on the lookout for innovative new processes and technologies to improve Climax Foods’ R&D operations.
• Actively preserve all forms of intellectual and material property, support IP development, and ensure strict confidentiality of activities and information.

Who You Are

• You’re an effective ‘doer’ and ‘director’ - you know how to prioritize for yourself and your team, strategically delegate, and execute strategic priorities with excellent execution.
• You’re prepared to work at the relentless pace of a rapidly progressing startup like Climax Foods.
• You’re a lifelong learner with an undying willingness to integrate new learnings into existing knowledge and expertise.
• You’re a team player and effective leader capable of adapting quickly to evolving priorities and comfortable with ambiguity.
• You’re ambitious, optimistic, and tenaciously curious - you have a burning desire to tackle big challenges.

Required Skills

• Ph.D. in a related field such as Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Biophysics, Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Food Science with 5+ years of post-Ph.D. experience
• 5+ years of experience managing multiple units within a fast-paced R&D organization.
• Experience across the entire product development lifecycle from R&D to commercialization
• Background in life sciences, biology, data science, and/or food science.
• Passion for plant-based food innovation and its potential positive impact on the environment and health factors
• A knack for collecting rich data sets and aggregating them into powerfully actionable models
• Proven record of innovative and/or fundamental contributions to protein-related research, technology development, or product development
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with the ability to effectively describe technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ridiculous attention to detail