About us:
Based in Berkeley, CA, UPSIDE Foods grows meat, poultry, and seafood directly from real animal cells. These products are not vegan or vegetarian—they are delicious meat, made without the need to raise and slaughter billions of animals. In doing so, the company aims to address some of the most pressing environmental, animal welfare, and public health challenges, while still giving people the meat they love.
Founded as the world’s first cultivated meat company in 2015, UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats) has achieved numerous industry-defining milestones, including being the first company to produce multiple species of meat (beef, chicken, and duck) and to sell a cultivated meat product in the United States. The company believes that people shouldn’t have to choose between the foods they love and a thriving planet, and is working to build a better food system with access to delicious, humane, and sustainable meat, poultry, and seafood.
UPSIDE Foods has won various industry awards, including New York Times’ Good Tech Awards, FastCo’s Next Big Thing in Tech and World Changing Ideas Awards, and the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation by the National Association for Business Resources. UPSIDE Foods has raised a total of $608 million, including from the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund (ADG), Baillie Gifford, Bill Gates, Cargill, John Doerr, John Mackey, Kimbal and Christiana Musk, Norwest, Richard Branson, Softbank, Temasek, Threshold, Tyson Foods, and others.
About this job:
As an Associate Director, Product & Innovation for UPSIDE Foods, you will play a crucial role in driving the development of a breakthrough new category: cultivated meat. Driving creation of delicious products from concept to launch for a world-changing company requires a creative and analytical thinker with a passion for food innovation and the ability to work collaboratively across various departments.
You’ll lead a cross-functional team of colleagues from R&D, Food R&D, consumer insights, sales, finance, and supply chain, and manage the end-to-end commercialization process to bring our novel products to market. This position is best suited for someone who has a strong bias for action, ownership mentality, ability to deal with ambiguity, and strong analytical and creative problem-solving skills across both food and science (so fluency with biology is a bonus). This person must be comfortable working both horizontally and vertically across an organization to keep multiple projects and priorities moving forward to achieve deadlines.
Responsibilities include:
- Lead the ideation, development and execution of new products, including gaining executive alignment
- Analyze market trends, data, and competitive intelligence to identify trends and opportunities
- Develop product concepts, prototypes, and formulations in collaboration with R&D, Food R&D, and chef advisors
- Partner with Brand and Consumer Insights counterparts to identify the knowledge gaps, define and initiate the learning plan to optimize the 6Ps of led initiatives
- Manage the product commercialization process and lead cross-functional teams (including R&D, Marketing, FR&D, Supply chain, Sales & Finance) ensuring timely, on budget and successful project completion
- Contribute to the organization’s innovation strategy and 3-5Y pipeline by identifying trends, consumer whitespace, and innovation territories that are aligned with our go-to-market strategy, technological capabilities, and points of difference
- Partner with the Brand & Sales teams to develop compelling product launch plans, product positioning, packaging, and promotional strategies and customer & sales presentations
About you:
- Bachelor’s Degree (or advanced degree) in Business, Marketing, Biology, or related field
- 8+ years of experience, with experience launching a food product (prior experience in new product innovation, CPG preferred)
- Strong project management skills with ability to successfully handle multiple projects simultaneously and deliver on timelines (including experience in cross-functional team management)
- Ability to bridge the realities of our cell biology with optimal food product experience
- Outstanding verbal, written and interpersonal communications skills
- Creative thinker with strong analytical skills
- Operates with a sense of urgency
- Strong leadership and results driven
- Passion for mission-driven food innovation
- Growth mindset and consumer-oriented
Compensation Range: $170,000 - $195,000*
*Pay may vary depending on factors including job-related knowledge and skills.
UPSIDE Benefits!
- Stock options for all full-time incoming team members!
- 83-100% employer-paid healthcare premiums for team members (medical [including HSA and FSA], dental, and vision)
- Pet insurance for your furry family members!
- Unlimited PTO
- Company-sponsored learning & development opportunities
UPSIDE Foods is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Our company-wide mission is to create a product for everyone, so we are deeply committed to having teams and leaders that reflect this mission.
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