Pressed Juicery is growing hiring a Senior Manager, Research & Development to bring our next clean-label innovations to life.

If you love turning big ideas into great-tasting, scalable products (with no natural flavors, additives, or preservatives), you’ll thrive in this hands-on role based in our on-site HQ R&D lab.

About Pressed Juicery

Pressed Juicery is a modern wellness brand built with the mission to empower your wellness journey.

Founded in 2010 by three friends, Pressed began as a small space with a big idea: real, nourishing food should be accessible and fit into everyday life. What started in a tiny Los Angeles juice bar has grown into a dynamic omnichannel brand, with products available through thousands of retailers nationwide, alongside our company-owned stores and direct-to-consumer channel.

At Pressed Juicery, we operate as one community bringing high-quality, better-for-you products to market. Guided by passion and purpose, we’re building what’s next in wellness.

Our Mission

Pressed Juicery’s mission is to empower your wellness journey.

Our Workplace Culture

• We embrace diversity, equity, inclusion, and belongingness!
• We speak up with radically candid communication.
• We wholeheartedly support personal and professional growth.
• We believe mistakes can be valuable and lead to continuous improvement.
• Lastly, we value excellence and strive to achieve greatness in all we do!

Our Values

• Community - as leaders, we celebrate differences, champion strengths, and compassionately aspire to be our most vibrant selves.
• Passion - curious and humble, we inspire people to make healthy choices.
• Growth - pursuing wellness with intention, we create and embrace good energy.

Our Benefits

• 401k match
• Annual bonus eligibility
• Three weeks of vacation time
• Paid holidays and 8 Pressed Days (additional days off)
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Flexible Spending Account
• Generous paid parental leave
• Employee Referral Program

About the Role

The Senior Manager, Research & Development is a hands-on product development leader responsible for translating consumer insights, brand strategy, and innovation concepts into scalable, high-quality products within Pressed’s clean-label standards (no natural flavors, additives, or preservatives). This is a high-impact role for a builder who combines creativity, technical rigor, and operational pragmatism, and who works collaboratively with internal teams.

Based in our on-site R&D lab at Pressed’s Support Center (HQ), the Senior Manager, Research & Development leads prototype development, testing, and technical validation across juices, functional beverages, frozen desserts and emerging wellness formats. Reporting to the Director of R&D, this role works closely with cross-functional teams to execute concepts through the full innovation lifecycle from idea to pilot to commercialization, ensuring products are ready for successful execution in manufacturing.

Key Responsibilities

Product Development & Innovation

• Lead the end-to-end execution of new products and product improvements, from concept development through scale-up and launch.
• Formulate and iterate formulations using the R&D lab, ensuring flavor, functionality, nutrition, and manufacturability align with Pressed standards.
• Translate brand briefs and consumer insights into feasible, scalable product concepts and prototypes.
• Apply creative and innovative problem-solving within technical, regulatory, and operational constraints.
• Explore and evaluate innovative ingredients, formats, and product trends relevant to beverage, juice, frozen, and ice cream categories.
• Partner with suppliers and internal teams to assess technical feasibility, sensory impact, scalability, and clean-label fit of emerging ingredients and concepts.
• Maintain strong awareness of ingredient, flavor, functional wellness, and broader CPG category trends.

Technical Leadership & Lab Ownership

• Oversee and manage daily operations of the R&D lab, including workflow prioritization, equipment use, safety protocols, sanitation, and ingredient inventory.
• Lead benchtop trials, sensory evaluations, stability testing, and shelf-life assessments.
• Ensure lab work reflects production realities and supports repeatable, scalable execution.
• Document formulations, processing parameters, and technical specifications with precision and consistency.

Commercialization Partnership

• Partner collaboratively with Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing to scale recipes from lab to pilot to full production.
• Provide hands-on R&D support during pilot runs, line trials, and early productions at internal manufacturing facilities and co-manufacturing partners.
• Support process validation and technical troubleshooting as needed.
• Balance product integrity with cost, sourcing feasibility, food safety, and operational efficiency.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Influence

• Collaborate cross-functionally with Marketing, Retail, Wholesale, QA, Operations, and Supply Chain on pipeline planning, consumer testing, concept prioritization, and execution alignment.
• Present prototypes, learnings, and recommendations to leadership, including senior stakeholders.
• Support renovation initiatives to improve taste, nutrition, quality, and margin across the existing portfolio.

Documentation & Knowledge Transfer

• Ensure QA-ready, execution-ready documentation prior to scale-up.
• Capture learnings from lab work and trials and incorporate them into ongoing development.
• Review and verify supplier and ingredient documentation, including specifications, technical data sheets, allergen statements, and related compliance materials, in partnership with QA and Supply Chain.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Technology, Chemistry, or related discipline (Master’s a plus).
• 7+ years of hands-on research & development or product development experience in food & beverage, with demonstrated experience taking products from lab to manufacturing.
• Strong hands-on formulation and bench-development expertise.
• Experience scaling products from lab to manufacturing environments, supporting/executing pilot runs, line trials, and early-stage production.
• Solid understanding of ingredient functionality, food safety, shelf-life and sensory testing.
• Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment.
• Excellent documentation, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Must be able to work on site in our Culver City, CA office.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without restriction.

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