Research And Development Specialist

Join Axelum - The Country's Largest Integrated Coconut Manufacturer

Axelum Resources Corp. is a leading, fully-integrated manufacturer and exporter of coconut products. We aim to shift to branded, consumer-facing innovation - and we're looking for a builder, not just a formulator, to help establish that capability from the ground up.

This is a hands-on, end-to-end R&D role with a dual mandate: create breakthrough products, and design the innovation processes, pipeline, and cross-functional ways of working that a B2B manufacturer doesn't have.

You will own the innovation cycle - from trend scouting and benchtop formulation, through continuous thermal validation, to factory floor scale-up and market launch - with a particular focus on cultured, fermented, and protein-fortified plant-based and hybrid matrices alongside our core product lines.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Innovation Process & Pipeline Design

• Build the Playbook: Design and build Axelum’s first end-to-end stage-gate innovation process - ideation, concept screening, technical feasibility, pilot validation, and launch - including the templates, checklists, and go/no-go criteria that don't yet exist.
• Pipeline Governance: Establish a structured, prioritized innovation pipeline with clear stage gates and cross-functional review cadences
• Trend-to-Brief Translation: Scout emerging consumer and category trends - functional nutrition, protein fortification, fermented formats, clean label - and translate them into actionable technical briefs.
• Knowledge Systems: Build the internal formulation, process-parameter, and shelf-life reference systems that make future innovation faster, more repeatable, and less dependent on any one person.
• Pipeline Leadership: Lead the concept-to-launch pipeline for next-generation shelf-stable and value-added consumer products.
• System Optimization: Optimize hydrocolloid, stabilizer, and emulsifier systems to control mouthfeel, viscosity, and phase stability.
• Culture & Fermentation Development: Select and optimize starter cultures, fermentation time / temperature profiles, and post-acidification control to hit target pH, texture, and viability specifications in cultured matrices.
• Format & Texture Engineering: Develop set, stirred, and drinkable format variants with protein fortification and clean-label stabilizer systems to meet consumer texture expectations.
• Benchtop Validation: Conduct rapid benchtop prototyping and kitchen trials to validate flavor profiles, pH and fermentation kinetics, texture, and structural stability under varied storage conditions.

3. Launch Execution & Thermal Scale-Up

• Factory Scale-Up: Lead technical scale-up from benchtop to pilot plant and full factory commercialization.
• Thermal & Aseptic Parameters: Establish critical process parameters for incubation, fermentation, and post-process acidification steps, as well as continuous thermal processing regimes - specifically UHT, HTST, and pasteurization - including homogenization and aseptic filling protocols.
• Trial Management: Own pilot-to-launch manufacturing trials, defining Critical Control Points, target rheology/viscosity metrics, and process capability limits.
• Commercial Alignment: Partner with Commercial teams to align product design with consumer insights, functional claims, and trend-driven flavor profiles.
• Launch Readiness: Oversee commercial launch readiness, including establishing Bills of Materials, master process specifications, raw material standards, and shelf-life protocols.
• Post-Launch Quality: Conduct post-launch performance monitoring, commercial line optimizations, and trade quality audits to ensure product consistency on-shelf.

5. Quality, Regulatory & Compliance

• Shelf-Life Testing: Design accelerated and real-time shelf-life testing protocols covering physicochemical, microbial, physical stability, live/active culture viability, and sensory attributes.
• Dossier Preparation: Prepare complete Technical Dossiers for FDA registrations, local/export market compliance, and certified claims (e.g., Organic, Non-GMO, Halal, Clean Label).

Core Competencies

• Innovation Mindset: Passion for food trends, rapid prototyping, and pushing boundaries in functional plant-based and cultured systems.
• Builder’s Mentality: Comfortable with ambiguity and energized by building processes, templates, and ways of working from the ground up.
• Commercial & Launch Agility: Ability to translate consumer briefs into scalable bench formulas while delivering against demanding launch timelines.
• Data-Driven Problem Solving: Strong analytical s