Senior Manager of Product Innovation

About Needed Needed is a direct-to-consumer women’s nutrition company fighting depletion across The MotherspanTM, from fertility to perimenopause. We deliver radically better nutrition supplements, education, and community, backed by a collective of 10,000+ perinatal and women's health practitioners. We're women-founded, well-funded, and growing rapidly. We are expanding our Research and Development Team with a strategic leader who can translate science, insights, and cross-functional collaboration into category-defining nutrition products. Why a Senior Manager of Product Innovation is Needed Our Senior Manager of Product Innovation will serve as the strategic architect behind the Needed product roadmap, and will synthesize the scientific, practitioner, and consumer-insight backbone that drives every product decision. This role draws on cutting-edge research, practitioner feedback, internal stakeholder input, and validated consumer needs to define the core truth, rationale, and differentiation behind each product. Ultimately, this role ensures that every Needed product is grounded in science and consumer needs, elevated by practitioner insight, and positioned to win. Role Overview The Senior Manager of Product Innovation will be responsible for: Innovation and Product Development • Developing clear product hypotheses grounded in science, practitioner needs, regulatory standards, and market opportunity • Translating consumer insights, clinical research, and ingredient innovations into actionable product concepts or product improvements • Designing and conducting consumer and practitioner market research to better understand sentiment, needs • Tracking and analyzing supplement industry trends, including ingredient and delivery form innovations, to identify business opportunities • Leading competitive analysis from a scientific and strategic perspective to identify whitespace and opportunities • Developing scientific rationale, formulation strategy, and ingredient selection in partnership with with Sr Manager of Product Development • Creating and maintaining product innovation briefs for cross-functional launch feasibility and ROI assessment • Tracking post-market consumer and practitioner feedback to inform future improvements Regulatory and Science Communications • Owning claims feasibility, substantiation strategy, and evidence hierarchy • Establishing the scientific benefit hierarchy for each product • Driving the scientific narrative to enable best-in-class go-to-market strategies for new products and innovations • Translating complex nutritional science and clinical insights into consumer-friendly and easy-to-understand materials • Gathering and compiling scientific validation for claims substantiation, and compliance review • Developing structure function claims that are accurate, truthful, and compelling, and directly address consumer needs Cross-Functional Collaboration • Partnering closely with Operations and Supply Chain to ensure manufacturability and scalability of product concepts. • Ensuring all product marketing communications are compliant and truthful, working closely with RA/QA during product development and scale-up • Work closely with Product Marketing to develop positioning, messaging, and GTM strategies rooted in scientific truth • Partner with Marketing, Planning, and Growth to build business cases, forecast product success, and integrate channel strategy considerations Who You Are / Requirements • Advanced degree in nutrition, biosciences, public health, or related scientific discipline • 5+ years of experience in product development, innovation, R&D, nutrition science or a related field • Deep understanding of dietary supplements, ingredients, and ability to understand as well as translate clinical research into compelling product strategy and positioning • Experience leading complex cross-functional product initiatives from concept through pre-commercialization • Strong analytical skills; ability to synthesize scientific research quickly and accurately • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate scientific information clearly to non-technical audiences • Experience working with practitioners, medical advisors, or clinical partners • Familiarity with regulatory frameworks (FDA/FTC, DSHEA, claims substantiation, novel foods, Prop 65) • Experience in women’s health, maternal health, or life-stage-based nutrition categories (preferred) • Startup or high-growth CPG experience (preferred) Compensation & Benefits • Competitive salary • Full-time, remote position with occasional travel to Los Angeles / Southern California • Comprehensive health, vision, and dental benefits • 401K plan • Generous Needed product perks Company DescriptionNeeded is a direct-to-consumer women’s nutrition company fighting depletion across The MotherspanTM, from fertility to perimenopause. We deliver radically better nutrition supplements, education, and community, backed by a collective of 10,000+ perinatal and women's health practitioners. We're women-founded, well-funded, and growing rapidly.