Product Development Lead

About Us

Hungryroot is an AI-enabled consumer wellness company. Like a personal assistant for healthy living, we get to know your goals, lifestyle, and budget, and we recommend and deliver healthy groceries, easy recipes and essential supplements for you and your family. It’s the easiest way to eat healthy, achieve your goals, save time, and discover new foods. Founded on the belief that food is the foundation of health, convenience should not mean compromise, and we’re all unique in how we eat and live, Hungryroot is building a future in which healthy living is easy and enjoyable.

We are a distributed team built on top talent from over 28 states across the U.S. While we have a headquarters in New York City, we support employees working from wherever they are based. We believe in fostering team connection and collaboration across all of our employees' locations. Expect to attend regular team-building events and an annual company retreat. Expect to be treated like an owner who cares about our common goal, not someone who has to clock in and out of work.

About the Role

We are looking for a dynamic and innovative Product Development Lead to drive the creation of new food products from concept to commercialization. Today, Hungryroot boasts nearly 200 beloved private-label products, such as our popular plant-based cookie doughs, sauces, heat-and-eat meals, and smoothies. The ideal candidate will help us build on this strong foundation, driving the development of innovative, health-conscious, Hungryroot-branded products that will further drive customer loyalty and attractive margins. 

As the Product Development Lead, you will collaborate with our internal teams and external manufacturing partners to transform initial ideas and trial runs into full-scale, market-ready products that meet our high standards for quality, nutrition, and taste. This role requires both strategic leadership and hands-on management of the product development lifecycle, from ideation to packaging and launch. This role reports directly to our Vice President of Sales and will partner closely with leadership, sourcing, culinary, food safety, and marketing teams to bring new products to life.

Responsibilities

• Drive the development of new Hungryroot-branded products from ideation to commercial launch.
• Collaborate with leadership, sourcing, culinary, food safety, and marketing to identify and develop innovative products that fit our brand values, customer needs, and business objectives.
• Translate product concepts into detailed specifications for suppliers and manufacturers, ensuring alignment with our high standards for quality, nutrition, taste, and food safety.
• Manage the entire product development process, overseeing benchtop samples, trial runs, and scaling to commercial production.
• Ensure proper documentation, process control, and alignment across internal stakeholders and external partners at each stage of development.
• Leverage existing networks and build strong relationships with external manufacturing partners to support product development and scaling efforts.
• Partner with the marketing team to define product positioning, packaging design, and naming strategies that align with the Hungryroot brand and resonate with customers.
• Partner closely with our Head of Food Safety and manufacturing partners, ensuring that all products meet food safety regulations and quality best practices.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in food product development, with proven success in bringing products from ideation to market.
• Strong knowledge of food formulations, product scaling, and manufacturing processes.
• Established network of relationships with food suppliers and manufacturers.
• Experience managing the end-to-end product development process, including raw material sourcing, process documentation, stakeholder alignment, food safety & quality assurance specifications and packaging development.
• Ability to collaborate across functions, including research, marketing, culinary, and operations, to ensure cohesive and successful product launches.
• Knowledge of food safety standards and FDA/USDA labeling requirements and the ability to work closely with safety experts to ensure compliance.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to oversee multiple initiatives simultaneously.
• Passionate about food, health, and wellness, with an eye for market trends and consumer preferences.

Perks & Benefits 

• Remote-first: work from home, work from our NYC office, work from anywhere in the U.S. - you decide!
• Equity 
• Unlimited vacation policy
• Universal paid parental leave
• Monthly Hungryroot credit for delicious, healthy groceries
• Comprehensive health, vision, dental, and life insurance
• Wellbeing benefits including One Medical, Spring Health, LiveHealth, Rightway care concierge, and more
• 401k
• A work from home stipend to support your initial home-office setup

Expected Pay Range
$130,000 - $170,000

#LI-REMOTE

The employer will not sponsor applicants for work visas.

Our mission to help make healthy eating easy, accessible, and joyful is better served by a diverse workplace. We are a proud Equal Opportunity Employer committed to building an inclusive workplace. We have zero-tolerance for harassment or discrimination. We do not discriminate on the basis of any protected class.