Senior Product R&D Analyst

Senior Product R&D Analyst , Amazon Fresh Private Brands Job ID: 3127758 | Amazon.com Services LLC Worldwide Grocery Stores (WWGS) is a global retail organization dedicated to revolutionizing the grocery shopping experience through enhanced efficiency, quality, and affordability. At its core, WWGS Private Brands (PB) serves as a crucial strategic division that develops, sources, and manages our Whole Foods Market (WFM) and Amazon‑branded proprietary food products across all geographic regions. This team also leads the Whole Body assortment, which includes non‑food and health/wellness products for WFM. Operating as a unified force, Private Brands supports both North American and International operations by leveraging cross‑functional expertise in product development, sourcing, sensory, commercialization and quality assurance to bring our products to market end‑to‑end across all WFM and Amazon channels. Through the integration of Whole Foods Market (WFM) and Amazon‑branded products, Private Brands enables WWGS to deliver high‑quality, innovative products and brands while maintaining operational excellence across diverse global markets. This collaborative structure allows WWGS to rapidly scale its food portfolio while maintaining consistent quality standards and efficient processes throughout its worldwide operations. This team manages the Amazon Saver, Amazon Grocery, by Amazon, Aplenty, Amazon Kitchen, 365 by WFM (including our organic products), and Whole Foods Market brands. Located in Seattle, WA, this individual will help spearhead efforts to achieve cross‑functional harmonization between Amazon and Whole Foods Private Brands Product Development Teams. They will drive ideation, Category Insights, Development, and Commercialization of WWGS Private Brand products for the appropriate assigned categories. They will act as an integral part of the WWGS Private Brands Product Development and Sensory team by supporting technical requirements and project workflow, evaluating product samples and related specifications for new and existing products, and collaborating cross‑functionally with key stakeholder teams to develop and maintain products that meet Amazon and Whole Foods Market Private Brands exceptional, consumer‑centric standards. Key job responsibilities Identifies and leads the implementation of cross‑functional process improvement initiatives, providing experience and perspective to facilitate a frictionless path to team integration Develops decision trees and guidance documents for leveraging all Product Development and Sensory Team facilities/capabilities in Austin, TX and Seattle, WA Provides physical day‑to‑day presence in Seattle, WA facilities and oversees Seattle‑based Team Members Drives Category Insights/Market Insights and associated strategy across all Food and Beverage categories of support (including categories supported by direct reports) Drives Innovation and Trend Spotting initiatives, associated activities, and strategy across all categories of support (including categories supported by direct reports) Leads commercialization efforts with suppliers and First Production dates and requirements, assists direct reports with managing these activities Manages product development by identifying and conducting comparisons against target products (if applicable) and sensory benchmarks through exploratory comp shops and cuttings Leads organoleptic evaluation for potential products, including comparisons between multiple potential vendors’ sample submissions Communicates sensory, nutritional, and quality parameters to vendors, providing sample submission feedback and requests for reformulation to potential vendors Leads effective launch of items, including sending first production requirements, hosting first production conference calls, and managing the execution of first production activities with vendors Evaluates first production samples against approved retains of final formulations, and provides first production approval/release decision to the vendor Attends first productions where applicable/pertinent Resolves ingredient and quality standards discrepancies and product quality concerns with internal teams and vendors as necessary Works on special projects as assigned such as evaluating competitive product and applying new policies, processes, and technologies Basic Qualifications 6‑8 years experience working in the CPG, retail or ingredient industries in Food and/or Beverage categories Bachelor’s degree in Biology, Chemistry, Food Science, or related field Must have knowledge of benchtop formulation and product development as it relates to CPG products In‑depth understanding of sourcing, product development, commercialization, manufacturing and related business processes Must have good understanding of product quality control and assurance Must be willing to try, sample and evaluate all types of food Must possess the ability to manage multiple projects and priorities and deliver against rapid development timelines Must be detail oriented and extremely organized Must possess excellent communication skills and the ability to excel in cross‑functional team settings Must have computer proficiency and familiarity with most Microsoft Office applications, especially Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook Some travel required (