Research & Development Manager

Pressed Juicery is growing! Join our purpose-driven community and help us make an impact.

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

• Medical, dental, and vision
• 401(k) - match up to 4% of compensation
• Awesome paid time-off and holidays
• Flexible Spending Account
• Generous paid parental leave
• Annual performance and compensation reviews
• Focus on career-pathing and promotions
• Professional and leadership development workshops
• Free Pressed products!


About the Role
As Pressed expands, consistent product execution is critical. The R&D Manager is responsible for owning the translation of Support Center-developed formulations into robust, scalable manufacturing processes and for defining, approving, and maintaining product and process standards across our Fresno and Dinuba facilities.


This role serves as the primary technical authority at the plant level, ensuring that what is developed by HQ R&D is executed with precision, consistency, and integrity — batch after batch, bottle after bottle. The R&D Manager exercises independent judgment to establish and optimize critical process parameters, evaluate formulation and ingredient variability, and make non-routine technical decisions that protect product quality, food safety, and brand standards.

Operating within Pressed’s clean-label standards (no natural flavors, additives, or preservatives) and established quality, safety, and operational guidelines, this role also identifies opportunities to improve process performance, product consistency, and manufacturing outcomes.


Success in this role requires advanced Food Science expertise, strong sensory and analytical skills, and the ability to lead cross-functional decision-making in a fast-paced, bilingual (English/Spanish) manufacturing environment.


Key Responsibilities
Product Execution, Scale-Up & Standards Ownership

• Own the scale-up of approved formulas from benchtop through pilot and full-scale production, including trial design, protocol development, execution oversight, data analysis, and final technical recommendations.
• Establish, approve, and maintain critical product and process parameters (e.g., pH, Brix, temperature, hold times, yields), ensuring they are integrated into plant SOPs, batch sheets, and training materials.
• Independently evaluate formulation and process change requests, conduct technical risk assessments, and approve or recommend modifications through established change-control processes.
• Lead cross-functional root cause analyses for complex production issues, determine corrective and preventive actions, and make go/no-go recommendations for product disposition and future runs.
• Act as the primary decision-maker for technical questions related to product execution at the plant, escalating only complex or strategic issues to the Director of R&D.
• Collaborate with QA, Production, Procurement, and Supply Chain to ensure reliable and repeatable batch outcomes across shifts and facilities.


Sensory & Quality Leadership


• Design and oversee in-line and post-production sensory evaluation programs for key products, establishing and maintaining gold-standard sensory benchmarks in alignment with HQ R&D.
• Define sensory-based ac