Business Unit Overview Here's what all the hype is about: Premier Nutrition Company (PNC) is one of the fastest-growing companies in the convenient nutrition space showing clear leadership in the category of protein shakes and protein powders. We make the brands Premier Protein, Dymatize, and PowerBar, which is sold internationally, and we are part of our holding company, BellRing Brands (NYSE: BRBR). We have a simple, yet powerful, formula for our success, which we’ve been nailing for over 15 years. We start off with an organization powered by our company purpose—Changing Lives with Good Energy. Then our purpose-driven people are given the support and autonomy to develop and grow. Next, we are super-intentional about designing a culture where everyone feels like they truly connect and belong, which is one of our five company core values. Purpose-driven, connected employees who are consistently mastering new skills deliver amazing business results. And winning companies with amazing people and thriving cultures attract and retain top talent, so the cycle becomes self-reinforcing or what we call our regenerative culture. We don’t mind sharing our formula since, as people who we believe in the power of changing lives with good energy, we think the world would be a better place if more workplaces treated adults like adults and gave them the platform to do the best work of their lives—alongside some truly amazing colleagues. Why don’t more companies do this? It takes deep-in-your-bones conviction to your people, products, and purpose to pull it off. It also takes resisting the urge to try to control people, and instead trusting them to make the right decisions. The results of our vibrant culture speaks for themselves: We were certified as a Great Place to Work™ for the 7th year-running in 2023. And we currently rank #2 on Fortune Magazine’s Best Workplaces in our category, and in the top 12 for each of the last 5 years. We have a long list of ways we take care of our people, but here are some crowd-pleasers that our employees often say they love most: Year-round ½ day Fridays, in-office massages, free lunches & snacks, dogs in the office, month-long cultural annd diversity celebrations, monthly over-the-top in-office events like bring your kids to work day, 6% 401k match after 1 year, as-needed sick leave, generous paid family leave regardless of gender, all positions bonus-eligible, company-wide volunteer days, company-matched charitable donations, no employee handbook, no dress code, coaching conversations instead of performance reviews, walking meetings, free exercise classes, and company-paid gym membership for Emeryville-based employees. PNC seeks individuals who will flourish in this type of work environment and will add to our culture and help build this high-growth company for the next phase in our amazing journey. Does this sound like you? Then read on…#LI-hybrid Responsibilities The role you’re interested in… The successful candidate is a well-versed R&D people leader who guides team members and shepherds various types of projects and initiatives (processing engineering, commercialization, and R&I documentation) with tight alignment across the organization. This position is a senior-level position, is a key member of the Research and Innovation (R&I) Leadership Team and will directly lead a team of managers and scientists (7+) at various levels (e.g. associate scientist to principal scientist with PhD) and works closely with R&I cross-functional partners and third-party resources. This position will have direct and indirect responsibility for ensuring successful execution of several key strategic initiatives. This position will also be instrumental in streamlining R&I activities at PNC and capturing technical expertise within R&I organization. This position works with limited supervision and has accountability for significant decisions made jointly with senior leadership in R&I and other functions. On a typical day you may find yourself brainstorming on future state of R&I record management, delving into trial summaries to ensure success criteria are met and resources and timing are in place, supporting team members to identify ways to improve their workstreams, and then guiding a third party through key deliverables overview. If you are ready to flex your thinking between technical problem solving, guiding, and coaching team members, and driving efficient and clear cross-functional collaboration, then welcome aboard. The work environment… So, what’s it like to work here? If you’re based in the greater Bay Area, you’ll walk into our Emeryville office each Tuesday morning and start the in-person portion of our hybrid work week at our weekly all-company meeting and find close to 200 of your colleagues sitting on sofas, beanbag chairs, or the floor excitedly talking through the week ahead and watching a newer teammate tell their personal life and career journey followed by a quick update on any hot topics that might be relevant to the week ahead. We are a dynamic, HYBRID workplace so every employee who lives within 100 miles of our offices is expected to come in each TUESDAY through THURSDAY. We aligned on these days way back in 2021 to be intentional about connecting in person for things like innovation, impromptu collaboration, having respectful challenges to get to better decisions, leadership role-modeling, and culture building. Great work cultures are built on stories about what great looks like in practice, and great stories on Zoom meetings are few and far between. The expected pay scale for this role is $220k to $240k, which may vary based on relevant experience, qualifications, geographic area (if applicable), and internal equity for the role. Our modern 50,000 sq. foot headquarters straddles the border of the cities of Emeryville, Oakland, and Berkeley, California with free onsite parking and many transportation options. You’re excited about this opportunity because your time will be filled with… R&I Leadership: 50% of your time Driving projects successfully to completion through leadership on setting project expectations, aligning on project plans and timelines, performing risk assessments, and developing risk mitigation and contingency plans, identifying proper workload balance, and ensuring ability to pivot as needed. Responsible for growth and development for direct reports through thoughtful conversations, coaching in the moment and building and overseeing development and/or stretch plans for each direct report. Balancing the WHAT (technical) with the HOW (good energy and radical candor approach). Ensure PNC values are embraced in daily activities along with opportunities to connect in the work, learn and collaborate. Build strong network and connections at various levels in organization with cross-functional partners. Key leader in R&I, active contributor in R&I Leadership Team and co-mentor for R&I Management Team. R&I Project: 30% of your time Strategic Initiatives and Project leadership: Initiates, develops and/or oversees workstreams for Group (co-man qualifications and improvements, processing engineering, commercialization, and documentation). Responsible for project execution against internal and external standards and deliverables through collaboration with OPS, QA, IT, and other parties. Enlist appropriate resources (internal or external) for feasibility studies, capability studies, testing/validation plans and timely troubleshooting. Identifies, communicates, and ensures alignment on risk management and contingency plans. Captures learnings and shares knowledge through effective communication e.g. reports, SOPs, training material. Build PNC PD expertise and excellence to support current activities and building the future in these areas: Qualifications of new or improved manufacturing lines or sites from processing and packaging technology point of view Scale-up process (Bench to Commercial scale) validation through capability and qualification studies Commercialization and R&I partnerships with Manufacturing network R&I Tools and documentation to support all areas of R&I Robust network of external experts and key vendors as strategic partners for PNC R&I team Identification of improvement opportunities, constraints, hurdles, or gaps and acting upon them and/or providing recommendations to leadership Driving thought leadership and staying on top of relevant trends through individual research, seminars and maintaining a network of professional, business, and industrial contacts. The daily stuff that everyone does but few quantify: 20% of your time Attending meetings and presentations Participating in company-wide activities and events galore Impromptu conversations with colleagues Administrivia like email, calendaring, expense reports, and other non-value-added work Qualifications What are we looking for? Education: Master’s degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemical Engineering or similar field required Experience: 12+ years of experience in the Food/Beverage industry, which includes substantial experience in R&D, Manufacturing/Scale- up/Commercialization, R&I IT tools and workflows, Project Management, and formal R&D leadership role. 3 + years of experience in aseptic processing of RTD beverages. Skills and mindset: Communicate technical details to business to drive decision making Execute projects within timelines by providing solutions to problems and managing risk Demonstrated ability to work effective in team environment through excellent interpersonal, influencing and communication skills (both written and verbal) Ability to excel in dynamic fast paced business environment, demonstrated ability to self- motivate and manage multiple priorities Continuous improvement, 6-sigma training, troubleshooting and project management skills Travel- 20% So, if after reading through this long list you’re thinking—I’m not sure I meet 100% of these requirements, should I still apply? YES—if you embody a growth mindset, see challenges as opportunities to develop, and find innovative ways to get the real work that matters done, you sound like our kind of candidate! The 5 capabilities or mindsets most relevant to this role: Emotional intelligence Thrive in ambiguity amid competing priorities Connect & Belong Play to Win Creativity, exploration, & innovativeness You will thrive here and may just do the best work of your life if… You want to be an integral part of shaping and nurturing an amazing work culture You can be flexible in your approach to challenges and abandon past practices if they don’t make sense or would lead to a poor outcome You are comfortable being natural, casual, open, and even a bit playful at work You don’t have a big ego and hate siloed thinking You can be friendly, vulnerable, and self-deprecating in one moment, and deal with a challenging, delicate people-related matter as a professional in the next You can do periods of focused, deep work on projects to move the needle This may not be your ideal next career move if… You like a lot of structure, rules, and uniformity You like hierarchy, command and control management You want to build lots of processes, systems, governance, or policies and make a beautiful bureaucracy Dealing with ambiguity or experimentation is not your jam You try to resolve challenging interpersonal situations over instant messaging or passive aggression You like managing from your house with your camera off and demonstrating excellence through email You tend to chase whatever shiny object presents itself during the day instead of real results Here’s the deal with our not-so-standard, um…standard interview process because we know you are the curious type, which is why you’re still reading this… Quick 30 min phone chat with a high energy member of our Talent Acquisition team to do a quick overview of your background and answer any burning questions you have Team interviews are kept to a minimum to foster a more efficient, candidate-friendly process (too many interviewers yields little value and drags out the process for you—and who wants that, right?): A short series of in-person or video interviews in a 1:1 setting; these are usually with the hiring manager, one or two other team members, and a person from another team to get broader perspectives (note: we don’t do panel interviews because they don’t give interviewers a chance to ask you unique questions, and we assign interviewers different roles so we’re probing different capabilities) A case study or job task to simulate what you’d actually be doing in the role (since your job is not actually to be interviewed for a living, why is that the thing companies rely on so much?) Yes, there will be a small panel for this one so you don’t have to do it more than once, and yes, they might ask you some kind yet probing questions at the end after the raucous applause stops. Once your interview concludes, the team will meet for an in-depth consultative process to ensure we are hiring the right person for the right job. Interviewers must come in with a strong yes or no vote beforehand to avoid groupthink with supporting reasons. The collective thoughts on your candidacy will be discussed in an environment of safety to challenge ideas respectfully, debate. and be open to all important qualifications of the candidates. A trained, disinterested bias blocker will be present to help mitigate bias so the team can make a sound hiring decision. The moment of truth arrives when the hiring manager makes the big decision. If you nailed the interviews and the case study was brilliant, guess what? The offer is all yours! And the ball is in your court. Will you accept? We sure hope so because this place is the real deal, and don’t just believe us—just ask the 93% of our people who said this is a great place to work in our most recent employee survey. We strive to create an equitable and inclusive environment to contribute to the success of our organization. Premier Nutrition provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, status as a covered veteran and any other category protected under applicable federal, state, provincial and local laws.