• Location: London
• Type: Permanent
• Job #660
• Salary: £120,000

CALLING ALL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTORS – WE’RE HIRING!

 

Role: Research and Development Director

Hours: Permanent, Full time, 8am-5pm, Monday to Friday

Location: Islington (Angel), London

Salary: £110,000- £120,000 per annum

 

At VF Recruitment we are proud to work in partnership with such a fresh and forward-thinking organisation such as this. Our clients are a growing, ambitious, passionate high growth start-up. With an in-house team of vets and nutritionists they are led by their mission to revolutionise cat health by applying scientific discovery to the freshest ingredients and customised portioning in search of the perfect cat food.  The R&D team is charged with improving cat health by adopting clear innovation in the fields of nutritional formulation, palatability assessment and enhancement, novel product development, and mining data to provide real-world solutions to the most pressing problems facing cats. 

 

The Role

 

As the Director of R&D, you would oversee an expansive portfolio across nutrition, scientific data, sensory and food science, and innovation strategy.  You will be responsible for generating and delivering strategic initiatives to achieve comprehensive business goals with the input and close coordination of the executive team and external scientific advisors.  These may include collaborations with outside scientific discovery facilities, but with the goal of enhancing our clients’ long-range internal capabilities and competencies. Technical competency in one core R&D discipline is expected, with a strong ability and willingness to aggressively support scientific discovery outside of core expertise.

 

The successful Director is an accomplished project coordinator who can channel the capabilities of an enthusiastic and aligned team with the ability to move quickly and adapt to the latest data-driven findings. Collaboration across teams is paramount to the health of our clients’ future, and the Director is incentivised to create mission alignment internally as it relates to novel product conception, product testing, and development of a comprehensive health platform.

 

Key Responsibilities:

 

• Develop and execute on short- and long-range research and development planning with the input of internal and external stakeholders
• Enhance the scientific and data-driven credibility of our clients Brand and products by working with team members to provide validation of current and future products, with particular areas of emphasis on nutritional formulation and food science / palatability
• Recruit and retain a diverse and motivated team of scientists, particularly with respect to core nutrition (formulation) and palatability science
• Meet clear budget targets and deliver project endpoints in a timely manner to align with the company’s ambitious growth goals
• Provide the scientific voice of the company and liaise with customer service, retention, operations, and growth to align messaging and product strategy / execution
• Manage the comprehensive project portfolio timelines and provide guidance to the specialized teams within the R&D department

 

 

 

 

 

Person Specification:

 

• 3+ years of scientific management within industry (human or veterinary health/nutrition) or in an allied academic environment
• Master’s degree or higher in related field (food science, nutrition, animal science, veterinary medicine, microbiology)
• A track record of managing complicated scientific discovery and business projects with financial competency and the ability to manage a budget
• An ability to use data-driven approaches to guide key business decisions
• Proven collaboration across teams of internal experts and scientific consultants
• Experience in short-term and long-range research and development
• Experience with fast-paced discovery, ideally in a start-up environment
• Track record of excellent scientific communication with strong English proficiency

 

 

What we offer:

 

• Competitive Salary and a MacBook
• Career-defining opportunity in being instrumental to scaling our brand, fast
• Meaningful equity in a fast growing, early-stage business 
• No egos and a small, close-knit team
• Monthly team socials
• 25 days of holiday every year plus your birthday off
• 4 weeks WFA (work from anywhere) policy 
• 1-2 days WFH every week
• 12-weeks paternity / maternity leave
• Discount on our range of fresh Pet meals 
• Comprehensive AXA health insurance including optical and dental 
• Yearly personal development budget 
• Company pension
• Office perks such as: fresh fruit, soft drinks and all the tea and coffee you can drink, weekly pastries, great banter and a cat (and dog) friendly office

 

 

 

Interested?

To apply for this vacancy or request more information please send your CV in application to VF Recruitment.

 

 

 

Please Note: When it come to your privacy, at VF Recruitment – we take it seriously.

All you need to know is that when you apply, we will process your details with the utmost care, we pass on your application for the clients review for the vacancy you have applied for only. We may contact you via telephone/text/email in regards to the vacancy, but your data is held and processed in accordance of your application for the vacancy, in terms of recruitment fulfilment.

If you have any pre-application questions please contact us first, just let us know the job reference, Thanks and Good luck, VF Recruitment