Beverage RandD Lead Product Development — Joud Coffee

Role Summary

Own the end-to-end beverage innovation pipeline (hot & iced coffee, matcha/tea, non-coffee refreshers, seasonal LTOs). You’ll run discovery, formulate & test, cost & scale, and launch with operations

What You’ll Do

• Voice of Customer & Trends: Run feedback loops (tastings, barista input, social listening, quick surveys) and scan global trends to feed the roadmap.
• Concept → Formula: Create briefs, set success criteria, develop recipes (iced/hot coffee and non-coffee beverages). Build spec sheets with grams/ml, °C, yields, allergens.
• Design-to-Cost: Hit target COGS and margin guardrails; engineer substitutes and prep methods without compromising taste.
• Scale & Process: Define CPU → café flows (batching, shelf-life, HACCP), packaging/dispensing choices, and bar workflow to hit ≤90-sec build times.
• Testing & QA: Plan pilots and A/Bs, run sensory panels, set QC standards (brix/TDS windows, temperature, foam density), and own version control.
• Menu & Analytics: Partner with Marketing to prioritize the roadmap
• Enablement: Create SOPs, training decks, and barista certifications; support launches with in-store trials and playbooks.
• Sourcing: Work with Procurement on coffee, tea, dairy/alt-dairy, flavor houses, and packaging; evaluate vendors via blind tastings and total-cost analysis.
• Cross-functional leadership: Coordinate with Ops, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Finance to deliver on time, on cost, and on quality.
  
  

• 5+ years in beverage R&D for specialty coffee/QSR or CPG beverages, with launches at multi-unit scale.
• Mixology background preferred (premium café/bar or zero-proof program): mastery of dilution & ice, shaking/stirring, foam technique, carbonation/nitro, layered builds, and garnish design.
• Strong grasp of espresso fundamentals, extraction/TDS, dairy & alt-milk behavior, emulsions, purées/syrups, cold foam, and blended formats.
• Proven costing, spec writing, shelf-life testing, and HACCP familiarity.
• Comfortable with spreadsheets; experience with POS data (e.g., Foodics) is a plus.
• Builder’s mindset: rapid prototyping, structured testing, excellent documentation.
• Collaborative, hands-on, and aligned with our values: Courage, Empathy, Customer Centricity, Passion, Resilience, Ownership, Innovation.
• English required; Arabic a plus.