Product Developer

Description:

Daily Responsibilities:

• Sample prep
• Research
• Ensure samples meet regulations
• Some cross functional work
• Hosting tasting events
• Develop products that bring the Starbucks café experience into an At Home Coffee experience while co-creating with cross functional members within the partnership
• Host tastings to showcase your development, while thoughtfully documenting the feedback and next steps
• Support the innovation process, bring solutions to solve some exciting customer opportunities and/or support our brand maintenance initiatives
• Be a strong voice for Starbucks while managing multiple projects simultaneously
• Similar to barista responsibilities, ensuring coffee and equipment are ready for the days work, replenshih items in the lab as needed for beverage prep
• Preparing sensory ballets, evaluating those ballots
• Assisting with documentation organization, raw material information, SOPs, and maintaining

Interaction level with team:

• Highly interactive

Additional Skills & Qualifications:

This is an opportunity to create and develop new ready-to-drink beverages for Starbucks. Our over-arching purpose within R&D is to ignite innovation and co-create to bring the future of Starbucks to life today. We are the indisputable leader in break-through beverage innovation, delivering relevant experiences and meaningful moments for customers and partners. This posting is to support the very exciting Global Coffee Alliance (GCA). Come be a part of our team and help create amazing Starbucks experiences!

• 3 years of experience
• Must be able to prep samples and flavor profiles
• Diligent
• Strong documentation experience with lab samples and tasting feedback

Team Culture/Work Environment:

• Working with 3 prod developers
• Supporting team members with their varying projects

Key Projects:

• Ad hoc support
• future innovation
• majority of the time will be in the lab, hosting tastings, documenting feedback and making new samples

Technology Requirements:

• Microsoft and Smartsheets
• Lab Basics: weighing, probably knowledge of analytical testing ie: moisture, pH, Brix/solids etc. Bonus experience with formulating and scaling up a formula (for microthermics etc)
• Familiar with Miro, Adobe,

Degree or Certifications Required:

• Yes, in food science or food safety, or related field
• 4 year degree

Years experience:

• 4-5 years

Required Skills:

• Beverage industry
• Food science
• Lab sampling
• Tastings
• Knowledge of food and beverage technology, ingredient functionalities, chemistry, or engineering including processing and manufacturing
• Understanding of beverage processing such as aseptic, retort, pasteurization.
• Knowledge of sensory, experimental design, statistics, and consumer research methodology
• Strong problem solving and communication skills
• Quality Assurance
• Food Safety

Nice-to-Haves:

• Worked in a similar field or industry
• Work with coffee or juice based drinks

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract position based out of Seattle, WA.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $26.00 - $30.00/hr.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following:

• Medical, dental & vision
• Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
• 401(k) Retirement Plan - Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
• Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
• Short and long-term disability
• Health Spending Account (HSA)
• Transportation benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Workplace Type

This is a fully onsite position in Seattle,WA.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Jul 23, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.