Principal Product Development Engineer

We believe being healthy should not require tradeoffs. SCN BestCo is a leading innovator, developer and manufacturer of Vitamin, Mineral & Supplement (VMS), Over-the-Counter (OTC) and prebiotics/probiotics in enjoyable forms such as gummies, lozenges and chews. With over 50 years of excellence, our team leads the way in changing how consumers make healthier choices.  With unique food science expertise and proprietary processes, we’ve pioneered many firsts.  Our passion to create new to the world products has guided and continues to be core to our mission of making health and wellness more enjoyable. Come join us and become a part of our winning formula!

The Principal Product Development Engineer serves as the formulation and process development subject matter authority in over the counter (OTC) drug and other supplement products, while shaping a portfolio anchored in confectionery science to deliver great‑tasting, manufacturable products at pace. This position requires scientific curiosity paired with disciplined development methods, enabling the development of robust line-ready formulations with stage‑gate discipline, validation/qualification strategy, change‑control rigor, and specification accuracy that make success repeatable. The Principal Product Development Engineer partners cross‑functionally with Quality, Operations, Regulatory, and Commercial to orchestrate end‑to‑end readiness—from feasibility through launch—so innovations are not only novel, but manufacturable and market‑ready. Additionally, a key responsibility in this role is mentoring scientists and engineers on confectionary product formulation and manufacturing, while building the systems and standards that amplify the whole team’s impact in regulated environments. This role is highly visible across leadership forums and commercialization gates, shaping how the organization scales in a rapidly growing category.

 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Seek and evaluate new ingredients and technologies in pursuit of developing unique product offerings in confectionary OTC and supplement markets, engaging suppliers/vendors, and translating insights into scalable development strategies.
• Translate product briefs and consumer needs into formulation strategies that meet dose targets, sensory attributes, and manufacturability requirements.
• Prepare product samples, test, and analyze physical and sensory attributes (e.g., texture, moisture, pH, and color) against defined acceptance criteria, and link results to stability and scale‑up decisions to develop a comprehensive data package.
• Execute Design of Experiments (DOEs) to identify critical drivers (critical process parameters and critical quality attributes; CPP/CQA), define robust parameter windows, and improve scale-up repeatability with clear analysis recommendations.
• Develop strategic partnerships with external industry leaders and internal stakeholders to generate scalable opportunities for product platforms, informing portfolio decisions and manufacturability.

• Engage with cross functional teams including quality, procurement, supply chain, manufacturing, regulatory, and commercial to resolve development and improvement issues, align translation standards (bench/pilot representativeness, sampling), and drive commercialization readiness.
• Establish and maintain soft‑chew CPP/CQA strategy across programs, including selection rationale, parameter window development, monitoring requirements, and capability expectations (e.g., variance analysis, and process capability/performance index [Cpk/Ppk] where applicable).

• Set and approve validation standards and acceptance criteria across lifecycle stages and ensure continued process verification (CPV) expectations are met in partnership with Operations/Quality.
• Define and govern phase‑/stage‑gate technical standards (deliverables, acceptance criteria, escalation triggers) and audit Gate readiness across programs to ensure disciplined decisions and resource allocation.
• Own product stability strategy (risk assessment, study design, acceptance criteria, interpretation) to ensure stability evidence supports scale‑up decisions and commercialization readiness.
• Support knowledge capture and organizational knowledge growth via effective data summaries, reports, and presentations.
• Mentor peers and junior scientists on best practices and product knowledge.
• Define and drive best practices; recommend paths going forward; govern change control rigor and document accuracy; lead risk management by setting criteria, reviewing risk matrices, and executing mitigations/escalations; ensure alignment across multiple teams.

 

People Leader Responsibilities

This position may be required to carry out People Leader responsibilities in ac