About Pilot R&D

We are known for tackling the biggest challenges in food and turning ambitious ideas into reality. To make things happen, we navigate a wide range of relationships — from our clients to ingredient suppliers to co-packers and beyond — while doing rigorous product development work in our Berkeley kitchen and lab. We are a small, talented team that takes the work seriously and treats one another with respect.

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Role Mission

Own the new product development process end to end — experimental design, execution, evaluation, documentation, and delivery.

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This is a hands-on role that lives at the intersection of the kitchen and the computer. Much of the work happens at a desk: writing recipes, building tasting sheets, evaluating ingredients, and leading client calls. The rest happens at the bench, running trials and tasting through results. Development Assistants handle most of the trial execution, which frees the Product Developer to focus on critical thinking — designing experiments, diagnosing what each result is telling them, and charting the path to the next iteration.

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The ideal candidate is fundamentally a developer: a sharp critical thinker and food scientist who is fluent in a professional kitchen but energized by the problem-solving as much as the cooking. Someone who wants to be at the stove full time is not the right fit for this role.

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Outcomes: What Must Be True at 12 Months

1. Manage 15+ concurrent development projects while meeting all timeline and milestone goals. A Product Developer should be able to time-manage and balance the natural ebb and flow of development requirements throughout the lifespan of a project, juggling many priorities at once without becoming a stress case. A Product Developer should never miss internal or external development milestones due to preventable circumstances.

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2. Lead internal tastings with at least one Founder at least once a week on all projects during the active kitchen development phase. Be prepared to walk Founders through overall experimental rationale, give succinct descriptions of the difference between each formula, gather feedback, and document a plan for further trials. This should be done with a collaborative attitude, never clouded with emotion, defensiveness, or exasperation if more trials are determined to be required. A Product Developer takes feedback from the team and clients well, does not get emotionally attached to any one sample, and genuinely enjoys an iterative process.

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3. Independently use analytical tasting and critical thinking to navigate experimental design in response to the tangible outcomes of experimental trials. A Product Developer should have the ability to taste a sample and discern areas for improvement. A Product Developer should be able to generate multiple possible solutions, write recipes to test those solutions, execute trials, and repeat as necessary to navigate hurdles during the development process — working independently and exercising excellent judgment with limited oversight.

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4. Coordinate with the Sourcing Team to ensure end-to-end scalability of all products developed. A Product Developer should coordinate with Sourcing on assembling a target list of all ingredients required at the outset of every development project and on understanding the sourcing implications (cost, availability, MOQ) of each ingredient relative to the others, so that they make informed, logical decisions about which ingredients to prioritize and which to avoid. When the Sourcing team encounters gaps in the market of sourceable ingredients, the Product Developer and Sourcing team think critically about potential pivots. The Product Developer should also coordinate with Sourcing to ensure ingredient information and samples in the required quantities are received well in advance of project deadlines.

 

5. Coordinate with the Production Team to ensure end-to-end scalability of all products developed. The Product Developer should coordinate with Production at the outset of every project to understand key functional requirements and restrictions that products must be ready to meet when processed at commercial scale. The Product Developer should never allow benchtop methods or ingredients used in the development of a product to deviate from client guardrails or what is possible in commercial settings without intentional, close coordination with Production and a Founder. Equip the Production Manager with development context and SOPs for attending production trial runs, and attend trial runs when necessary.

 

6. Client communication is professional and reflects well on Pilot. The Product Developer should prepare tasting sheets and be prepared to lead tastings with clients in a professional, polished, and confident manner. The Product Developer presents well in front of clients — with strong interpersonal skills and the ability to speak articulately about their work — and should be able to react and respond to client feedback and questions with clarifications, reassurance, or technical expertise as needed.

 

7. Be a team player. In addition to managing their own project responsibilities, the Product Developer should proactively contribute to facility upkeep, cleaning, maintenance, and culture, and should treat everyone on the team with respect. When the Product Developer has extra time, they should proactively seek opportunities to assist other team members with tastings, sample preparation, or problem solving.

 

What You Bring

Required:

• A culinary degree and/or a food science background, plus professional kitchen experience — you are deeply familiar with a professional kitchen environment (3+ years)

• Strong food science knowledge and the ability to understand and navigate the physical and chemical guardrails of product development

• Excellent critical thinking and analytical tasting — you can taste a sample, diagnose what is happening, and design the next experiment

• The ability to work independently and drive projects forward with limited oversight

• Strong written communication — you spend extensive time on a computer writing recipes, building tasting sheets, evaluating ingredients, and attending calls

• Composure under pressure — you can juggle many concurrent projects without getting anxious or becoming a stress case

• Emotional resilience and a love of iteration — you take feedback from clients and the team well, don’t get attached to any one sample, and roll with the punches

• Excellent interpersonal skills — you present well in front of clients and can speak articulately and confidently about your work

• A team player who treats everyone with respect

• Ability to work in person at our Berkeley, CA office and lab

Preferred:

• Experience developing and commercializing food and beverage packaged products (understanding cost, availability, and MOQ trade-offs)

• Experience working directly with clients in a development, consulting, or agency setting

• Proficiency with spreadsheets and Google Suite

Competencies

• Critical thinking and independent problem solving

• Ability to understand and navigate physical and chemical guardrails

• Palate sensitivity and ability to taste analytically

• Comfort with ambiguity

• Food science knowledge

• Proficiency in kitchen work

• Able to work cleanly in kitchens

• Proficiency in working with spreadsheets

• Proactive problem flagging

• Ability to synthesize and communicate food science concepts in laymen’s terms

• Strong interpersonal and client presentation skills

• Even keeled and exhibits grace under pressure

• Highly organized, attention to detail

 

What We Offer

• Full benefits: medical, dental, vision, 401k with match

• A small, talented team that takes the work seriously, but not themselves. We respect each other and laughter is a regular feature of our day

• The opportunity to taste all manner of delicious and weird food and beverages

• Real ownership from day one — you’ll matter immediately, not after a two-year ramp