Director of Research & Development

Director of R&D - HallPass

David Protein · New York, United States · — · Posted 2026-11-03

Workplace: on_site

Department: HallPass

Description

The Company:

HallPass Candy is building the next generation of candy. Our goal is simple: create the candy people already love, with a fraction of the calories, at the same price. HallPass recently launched nationwide at Walmart.

HallPass is part of the Medici Brands portfolio, alongside brands like David. This is a rare opportunity to join a breakout food brand at a pivotal stage of growth. Led by CEO Peter Rahal, Cofounder and Former CEO of RXBAR, and President Michael Tierney, Founder and Former CEO of Stuffed Puffs, HallPass brings together deep experience building and scaling category-defining consumer brands.

The Role

HallPass is seeking a Director of Research & Development to lead product innovation and formulation across our growing confectionary portfolio, with an initial focus on chocolate and chocolate-based confectionery.

The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise in chocolate and confectionery with a hands-on, entrepreneurial approach to product development. This is an opportunity to help build the R&D function at a rapidly growing brand, developing products that can compete with the most iconic candy products in the market.

Key Responsibilities

Product Development & Innovation

• Lead end-to-end formulation and development of new chocolate and confectionery products, from initial concept through commercialization.
• Develop innovative formulations that deliver the taste, texture, appearance, and sensory experience of traditional candy with substantially reduced calories.
• Drive formulation improvements across existing products, optimizing taste, texture, shelf life, nutritional profile, and cost.
• Identify and evaluate novel ingredients, sweetener systems, fats, fibers, and processing technologies that enable breakthrough confectionery products.
• Translate consumer insights and competitive benchmarks into actionable product development priorities.

Chocolate & Confectionery Expertise

• Apply deep expertise in chocolate processing, tempering, crystallization, enrobing, molding, fillings, coatings, and related confectionery manufacturing processes.
• Develop and optimize chocolate systems, including sugar-reduced and alternative-sweetener formulations.
• Solve technical challenges related to sweetness, mouthfeel, texture, stability, moisture migration, and shelf life.
• Evaluate ingredient interactions and processing parameters to ensure product quality and consistency at commercial scale.
• Apply broader food science and product development expertise across additional confectionary categories e.g. baked goods

Commercialization & Manufacturing

• Partner directly with our commercialization team, co-manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, and equipment partners to develop commercially viable products.
• Establish manufacturing specifications, processing parameters, and quality standards.
• Troubleshoot formulation and processing challenges during scale-up and ongoing production.
• Identify opportunities to improve manufacturing efficiency, ingredient costs, and product consistency without compromising quality.

R&D Strategy & Leadership

• Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing R&D team, fostering a culture of innovation, technical excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Build scalable R&D processes, documentation, testing protocols, and product development capabilities.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with leadership, operations, supply chain, and commercial teams to bring new products to market.
• Manage external technical partners, laboratories, suppliers, and consultants as needed.
• Help define the long-term technical capabilities and R&D infrastructure required to support HallPass's growth.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemistry, or a related technical field. Advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in food product development, with significant experience in chocolate and confectionery.
• Deep technical understanding of chocolate formulation, confectionery ingredients, processing technologies, and manufacturing.
• Proven experience developing and commercializing products at scale, including hands-on work with contract manufacturers.
• Experience with reduced-sugar, alternative sweetener, or better-for-you confectionery formulations strongly preferred.
• Strong understanding of ingredient functionality, sensory evaluation, shelf-life testing, and formulation optimization.
• Ability to balance sensory performance, nutrition, ingredient costs, and manufacturing feasibility.
• Highly hands-on, with the ability to independently formulate, prototype, troubleshoot, and execute.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment with ambitious product development timelines.
• Strong problem-solving skills, technical judgment, and ability to work cross-functionally.

Benefits

• This is a full-time, in-office role based in New York City. We work onsite five days a week- when the culture fits, it is fun to be in the office together. 
• Salary: $240,000-$260,000 per year, inclusive of bonus. 
• Company equity options. 
• 100% covered Health, Vision, Dental Insurance.
• 401(k) with 4% match.
• Additional perks, such as covered gym expenses.
• Substantial and required PTO.

Apply

Apply at David Protein

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