Director/VP of product development and commercialization

VP Product Commercialization | Tezza Foods

Scientist, Food

**Summary:**

We’re looking for a VP/director of product development and commercialization to help us create a more sustainable food system. You want to use your product development expertise to bring a new category of cheese to market and build the mission-focused team to do it. You love getting your hands dirty on the manufacturing floor and wearing strategic hats across small-scale manufacturing, late-stage product development, and quality. Most importantly, you share our values. This position is based in Oakland, CA and offers competitive salary and equity.

**About Tezza:**

Our food system represents a whopping 34% of global carbon emissions and is the primary driver of species extinction and deforestation. Within food, the biggest single problem is cows. Cows outweigh humans and account for over 10% of carbon emissions. Dairy alone produces more carbon than all of aviation. But the problem is that cows and their milk taste really good, and no amount of guilt will ever stop us from devouring them. The only solution is to create sustainable products that are better than cows on two factors: taste and cost.

Tezza is a public benefit corporation that discovers and designs microbial communities that transform inexpensive sustainable plants into new categories of fermented foods. This approach allows us to create plant-based products that are absurdly delicious and cheaper than their animal-based counterparts. We are starting with the most resource-intensive and addictive dairy product.

**About the Position:**

You will be working with us to build a more sustainable food system by leading the commercialization of new categories of fermented foods. Some of your responsibilities will include:

• Oversee a team responsible for small-scale manufacturing process development, equipment selection, and technology transfer to co-manufacturing partners.
• Oversee a team responsible for late-stage product development, including formulation optimization, packaging development, scale-up, product testing, and characterization, shelf life extension, and labeling.
• Oversee a team responsible for food safety and quality assurance, including program build-out as well as routine execution.
• As our organization grows, work with the founders to find or coach new leaders for these operational functions.
• Build a company where mission and money meet. This position is full-time and not remote.

**Qualifications:**

• PhD in food science, chemical engineering, or a related field.
• 15 years of people leadership and management experience, including hiring and leading large teams.
• Track record of successful food product commercialization with responsibility for taking products from bench to full-scale manufacturing and product delivery.
• Experience being responsible for food quality and safety, preferably of perishable foods.
• Willing to spend significant time rolling up your sleeves and working side by side with the product development and manufacturing teams, helping them make great decisions, improve operational efficiency, and balance competing priorities.
• Ability to put people into the right roles and provide frequent mentoring and coaching to team members.
• Ability to operate in details while seeing the big picture and broader goals.
• Ability to engage in problem-solving by applying scientific knowledge, developing solutions that are relevant and practical.
• Conviction in our mission and values.

**What do you get out of it?**

• You’ll work on global sustainability problems via a hands-on tasty product.
• You’ll be on the ground floor of creating a biotechnology-enabled but aggressively practical food startup.
• An opportunity to have a systemic impact on the food system.
• A chance to build the kind of place where you’d like to work.

**If interested, what should you do?**

We build relationships thoughtfully, and this approach takes time. Over multiple conversations, we will seek to understand how we can support you, and hopefully, you will find out whether we are a good fit for your goals or simply a bunch of nutcases. You can learn about our values, culture, hiring process, and benefits here. To apply, please email join@tezzafoods.com with a resume and responses to the following prompts (a conversational, unpolished tone is fine):

1. What motivates you right now? When you think about your short life, what motivates you for the long term? And most importantly, why? Where did those motivations come from?
2. What are the most important things that you are striving to improve in yourself? What are you doing to work on them? And how would that work either amplify a superpower or cure an Achilles heel?

**Tezza is an equal opportunity employer.** We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. But we acknowledge that we are flawed humans within a flawed society. We do our best and apologize and learn when that’s not enough. Email: info@tezzafoods.com