Research & Development Herbalist

Fitt Talent Partners is a specialized recruitment firm for top health and wellness companies.

We’re filling this role for a client, a fast-growing wellness startup developing herbal remedies for modern health challenges.

Job Description

We are seeking an experienced Herbalist to drive the development of our product line. This role will actively research, formulate, and ensure the quality of products that align with our mission of providing natural and effective herbal remedies. The ideal candidate will have a solid understanding of herbal medicine traditions, product development experience, and familiarity with regulatory requirements in the dietary supplement or wellness industry.

This individual will report to the Director of R&D and Regulatory Affairs and collaborate closely with cross-functional teams including marketing, operations, sales, and customer success. This position offers significant growth potential and the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on our product portfolio.

Responsibilities

R&D and Product Formulation:

• Spearhead the research, formulation and development of products in line with business, brand objectives and market opportunities
• Utilize traditional herbal medicine principles and modern scientific methods to ensure standards of product efficacy, quality, safety, sustainability whilst meeting regulatory requirements
• Be at the forefront of industry trends, scientific research, and consumer preferences to identify and recommend new opportunities for product innovation or improvement on existing formulations
• Assist the new product development process from creation to launch including but not limited to product roadmap, Go-To-Market lead times, sampling rounds and formulation approvals, and sourcing for vendors
• Collaborate with co-manufacturers on the commercialization and technical specifications of formulations, sourcing of sustainable, high-quality ingredients, address production quality, consistency, and capacity issues to ensure product quality and supply stability
• Negotiate with existing and new co-manufacturers for price quotes and formulate and new/existing formulations to meet margin requirements
• Continuously improve and enhance products and formulations; lead efforts to enhance product attributes such as taste, texture, nutritional content packaging, and shelf life
• Create educational product briefs for Marketing and Ops hand off, including supporting research articles on claims, the herbs and ingredients chosen, and founding content structure for future Marketing assets and copy
• Maintain detailed records of research, testing, and product development processes

Quality and Regulatory Compliance:

• Ensure product formulations comply with FDA, FTC, USDA, and DSHEA regulations
• Support the development and maintenance of quality control procedures
• Verify ingredient quality and specifications meet company standards
• Research and compile scientific evidence to support product claims
• Grow and build out our claims substantiation dossier
• Assist with documentation required for product certifications (non-GMO, organic, etc.)
• Help troubleshoot product quality issues and recommend solutions
• Work closely with quality assurance teams to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) and maintain quality control

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Create educational product briefs and content for the marketing team
• Develop training and education materials on herbal products for internal teams and retail partners
• Act as subject matter expert in our products and advise/support the Customer Success team with incoming customer inquiries
• Advise and work with the Marketing, Creative, and Digital teams to ensure all product claims satisfy Marketing needs and key benefits while balancing language to meet FDA minimums
• Review/write educational research-based content for our blog (and possibly other outlets) on health and herbalism topics
• Support content creation team on content creation and overall strategy
• Create innovative recipes and usage recommendations for products
• Analyze customer feedback and suggest product improvements based on insights
• Participate in consumer testing and interpret results to guide product development

Requirements