Product Development Manager

Manager, Product Development

Black Girl Vitamins | Reports to Head of Product Development | Chicago preferred, remote considered within the US

About Black Girl Vitamins

Black Girl Vitamins is one of the fastest-growing wellness companies in the country, and the first supplement brand built specifically for Black women. We started as a direct-to-consumer business and now reach our community through our website, Amazon, and Walmart, with a subscription base of women who stay with us for years because we were built for them.

We have reached the point where the challenge is no longer proving that our customer wants what we make. The next chapter is building a product pipeline that keeps earning her trust: formulas grounded in science, designed around her health needs, and made by partners we can stand behind. This role exists to make sure every product we develop deserves its place on her shelf.

The role

Today, product ideas come from many places: our community, our team, our partners, and the category itself. Turning them into finished formulas runs through a small group of people and a set of outside partners, without one person who owns the work from opportunity to a production-ready product.

You will change that. From the first look at an opportunity until a product is formulated, tested, substantiated, and ready for production, the product is yours. You are not a project coordinator for our manufacturers. You are the person who decides what we should make, writes the brief, works with the science, and stands behind every formula and claim.

What you will do

Decide what we should make. Research emerging ingredients, delivery formats, scientific studies, health trends, and competitor launches, and turn what you find into product concepts with a clear consumer need, scientific rationale, and commercial case.

Write briefs that hold up. For every new product, reformulation, and line extension, define the target consumer, positioning, benefits, formula requirements, dosage format, claims, cost targets, and what makes it different.

Own the formula. Lead formulation, ingredient selection, flavor and sensory work where it applies, and testing, working directly with formulators, scientists, and laboratories.

Manage the partners who make our products. Select and manage contract manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, and packaging vendors during development, and hold them to quality, cost, and timing.

Stand behind every claim. Make sure every claim is substantiated, every label meets FDA dietary supplement requirements, and every product meets GMP standards and any third-party testing it needs.

Hand off a product that is ready. Work with the Product Launch Manager so that every product enters the launch plan with its specifications, lead times, and risks clearly documented.

Build how we develop products. Create the stage gates, templates, and documentation that make product development at BGV repeatable as the portfolio grows.

Improve what we already sell. Use reviews, community feedback, and performance data to lead improvements to existing products.

What you own and what you do not

You own the product pipeline, product briefs, formulation, development partners, testing, and claims substantiation.

The Product Launch Manager owns the integrated launch timeline and readiness across teams. Supply Chain owns purchasing, production planning, and logistics. Growth owns creative strategy and post-launch performance. The executive team decides which concepts move forward and how large each launch is. This role is where every product is shaped and proven before it enters the launch plan.

Your authority

Within approved briefs and budgets, you make the formulation, ingredient, and supplier decisions for the products you own, and you hold outside partners to their commitments. You can stop a product from moving forward when the science, quality, or claims are not ready, and you bring that call to the executive team with your evidence and recommendation.

Who you are

You have the experience. 5 or more years of product development in dietary supplements, nutraceuticals, functional foods, consumer health, or adjacent CPG categories, with products you have personally taken from concept to shelf.

You have the scientific foundation. A bachelor's degree in food science, nutrition, chemistry, biochemistry, pharmaceutical sciences, chemical engineering, or a related field, and deep knowledge of supplement formulation, ingredient functionality, dosage forms, manufacturing, and testing.

You know the rules. Working knowledge of FDA dietary supplement regulations, labeling, structure/function claims, and GMP. Experience with clinically researched ingredients and third-party certification is a plus.

You have managed manufacturers directly. You have worked hands-on with contract manufacturers, formulators, laboratories, ingredient suppliers, and packaging vendors.

You think commercially. You can connect a formula to its cost, its margin, and the consumer need it serves, and you know when a good idea is not a good product.

You build systems. You document clearly, pay attention to detail, and have improved how a growing brand develops products. You stay steady when priorities change quickly.

You care about our customer. You will spend time with our community, read reviews, and build intuition for what she needs from her supplements. Experience in women's health, including hormonal, reproductive, metabolic, digestive, or healthy aging, is a strong plus, as is a personal connection to our community.

Your first 90 days

30 days: You have reviewed every product in development and every active manufacturer and supplier relationship, and documented where each product stands.

60 days: Every product in the pipeline has a current brief, and you have introduced a simple stage-gate process with the Product Launch Manager.

90 days: You have presented a 12-month innovation pipeline to the executive team, with the consumer need, scientific rationale, and commercial case for each concept.

How you will be measured

Three numbers. Products that move through each development stage on the dates committed in the brief. Products that enter the launch plan with complete specifications, substantiated claims, and no open quality issues. And cost of goods against the target set in each brief. We will also track post-launch quality issues and reformulations as a health check on the process.

Compensation and location

Base salary of $95,000 - $110,000 plus a performance bonus. Chicago is preferred. Remote candidates based in the US will be considered.

Hiring process

A short application, a screening call, a conversation with the hiring manager, and presentation to panelists. Finalists then join a 45-minute session with a small panel: you present a project you led, then talk through a real challenge BGV is working on right now and how you would approach it. Some finalists will also have a final conversation with a member of our leadership team.

How to apply

Send your resume and a short answer to this question: Tell us about a challenging product development project you worked on. What was the outcome?