Product Development Manager

About the role

At Zevia, we're creating a world of better-for-you flavor-better for people and the planet. Our team is made up of courageous challengers and tenacious builders who are passionate about our mission. We're solutions-oriented, always improving, and we operate with a healthy thirst for risk. We believe in staying true to our convictions while continuously learning and evolving. At our core, we are people-centric. We care deeply, lead with empathy, and operate as one team-no egos, just a shared purpose. We strive to reflect the diversity of our consumer base within our organization and foster a culture of empathy and humility. Together, we aim to impact global health, provide affordable better-for-you products, and protect the planet by reducing plastic. We're fighting the good fight to change the beverage industry for the better - and we're just getting started. The Manager, Product Development plays a key leadership role in shaping the future of Zevia's portfolio. This role will shape how new products come to life and how existing products continue to evolve - bringing together creativity, technical rigor, and cross-functional partnership to turn ideas into scalable, market-ready solutions. Operating at the intersection of innovation, science, and execution, this role helps craft the next chapter of Zevia's product development work while advancing our commitment to better-for-you beverages.

Responsibilities

• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Identify white space opportunities - including emerging trends - within the beverage category and develop innovation concepts informed by consumer insights, market data, the evolving ingredient landscape, and business needs
• Lead all aspects of product development to conceptualize, design, and develop new products, translating product briefs into great tasting, scalable formulations that meet cost targets
• Apply deep experience working with stevia‑sweetened formulations to inform formulation decisions and product optimization
• Evaluate existing flavor lineup for opportunities to enhance taste and improve costs
• Conduct benchtop trials to assess solubility, dispersion, flavor delivery, and shelf-life indicators
• Apply iterative testing and refinement to improve product performance across storage and distribution conditions
• Collaborate cross-functionally throughout the innovation process to ensure that all projects stay on strategy, on budget, and on time
• Support scale-up and commercialization processes at co-pack facilities

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science or a related scientific discipline
• 5+ years of experience in the beverage industry with product development and regulatory responsibilities
• Demonstrated experience formulating with stevia and qualification as a trained stevia taster, with the ability to evaluate sweetness, bitterness, and overall sensory impact across liquid applications
• Experience working within structured Stage Gate or NPD processes
• Working knowledge of FDA regulations and ingredient compliance
• Experience developing talent, leading teams, and managing cross-functional relationships
• Familiarity with food and beverage laboratory SOPs, safety, and GLP protocols
• Familiar with scientific principles in beverage and ingredient development, including sweetener systems
• Regulatory background and experience with current FDA standards
• Hands on experience with Operations or Mechanical processes
• Experience managing vendor partners
• Excellent communication skills and ability to distill complex data into clear and actionable narratives
• Supervisory Responsibility
• This position does have direct supervisory responsibility.
• Work Environment
• This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, and photocopiers, filing cabinets, and fax machines.
• Physical Demands
• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.
• Position Type/Expected Hours of Work
• Full-Time Exempt
• Travel
• This position may require ad hoc travel, per business need.
• Work Authorization/Security Clearance
• Must be eligible to work in the U.S.
• Other Duties
• Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for thi

Benefits

Additional Information

This role is a hybrid position, coming into the office (Encino, CA) 4x week.

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