Research & Development Scientist Jobs in Austin, TX

Everyday Dose is redefining the daily coffee ritual. Our mushroom + collagen coffee blend helps people feel focused, calm, and energized without the jitters, crashes, or gut issues of traditional coffee. We're a fast-growing functional wellness brand with a loyal DTC customer base, an expanding retail footprint, and an innovation pipeline that's rewriting the rules of what a coffee company can make.

We're building an R&D bench to develop the next generation of functional products and we need someone who is as obsessed with the science of how something works as they are with how it tastes.

We're hiring an R&D Scientist to work directly with the Director of Product & Innovation on developing new functional beverage formulations from benchtop through commercialization. This is a science-forward role—analytical rigor, sensory methodology, and ingredient functionality are the core of the job.

• Hands‑on development of new functional beverage formulations from first prototype through stability‑validated, production‑ready formula.
• Develop and iterate on coffee bases across multiple SKUs: evaluate flavor profile, solubility, mouthfeel, and ingredient compatibility.
• Formulate around functional ingredient constraints with a rigorous understanding of how each interacts with a particular carrier system.
• Determine functional performance and sensory properties of ingredients in finished products using established analytical and sensory evaluation tools.
• Identify and execute cost optimization opportunities across formulations without compromising sensory or functional integrity.
• Build and maintain version‑controlled formulation records: batch sheets, trial reports, experimental write‑ups, taste evaluation records, and handover documents.

• Design and execute shelf‑life, stability, and oxidation studies across formats and storage conditions, flagging sensory, appearance, or functional changes over time and making data‑driven reformulation recommendations.
• Partner with Quality Manager and external analytical lab partners to collect data on nutritional content, microbial testing, and packaging compatibility.
• Prepare finished good formulas for costing, nutritional analysis, sensory review, and regulatory review ensuring accuracy of nutrition facts panels and ingredient declarations.
• Organize benchtop trials, pilot plant sessions, and shelf‑life testing timelines with cross‑functional teams.

• Design and run internal sensory panels—blind tastings, triangle tests, and paired comparisons, synthesizing feedback into actionable formulation changes.
• Evaluate competitive and benchmark products systematically: identifying taste, texture, and functional gaps our formulas need to close or beat.
• Support consumer lab testing (CLT) programs by preparing samples, documenting protocols, and interpreting sensory results for go/no‑go formulation decisions.

• Stay ahead of the functional ingredient landscape, emerging adaptogens, novel delivery formats, clinically‑studied actives, and bring validated, evidence‑backed ideas to the innovation pipeline.
• Source and evaluate new ingredients: pulling COAs, reviewing third‑party clinical data, confirming certifications, and assessing sensory impact in finished product.
• Conduct competitive product benchmarking and ingredient research to identify formulation white space and emerging category trends.
• Assist with new product ideation and concept development, contributing both scientific rigor and sensory instinct to early‑stage innovation.

• Work collaboratively with QA, operations, and regulatory teams to ensure commercial‑ready formulas are consistent from a sensory, food safety, and claims perspective.
• Communicate project status, formulation decisions, and technical findings clearly to the Director of Innovation and cross‑functional stakeholders.
• Travel as needed to partners for innovation sessions and prototype trials.
• Maintain GMP in laboratory and pilot settings, performing all activities safely and in compliance with food safety standards.

• 2–5 years of hands‑on formulation and product development experience in functional food, beverage, or dietary supplement R&D. Or a combination of formal training and bench experience that clearly substitutes for a degree.
• Coffee formulation experience: you understand sensory profile differences between arabica and robusta, spray‑dried vs. freeze‑dried instant, and you know how to build functional stacks around a coffee base without wrecking the flavor.
• Working knowledge of functional ingredients in wellness beverages: mushroom extracts, adaptogens, collagen peptides, L‑theanine, amino acids, and solubility‑enhancing systems (lecithins, cyclodextrins, emulsifiers).
• Flavor and sweetening systems experience to compete with the best of them to bring delicious, functional products to market.
• Strong analytical mindset: you know how to design a shelf‑life study, interpret lab data, and turn sensory panel results into a clear formulation decision.
• Exceptional sensory evaluation skills. You can taste something and articulate precisely what's off and why, beyond 'it doesn't taste good.'
• Organized and documentation‑disciplined: formulation records, trial reports, experimental write‑ups, and version tracking are non‑negotiable parts of how you work, not afterthoughts.
• Comfortable in a fast‑paced startup environment: fast timelines, shifting priorities, high bar for both taste and function, and genuine ownership of your work.

You get genuinely annoyed when a functional product doesn't taste good. You believe taste and function are not a tradeoff. They're a design challenge. You can hold a sensory opinion and an ingredient science perspective in the same conversation without losing either one.

You have opinions about coffee. You know the difference between a formula that's technically correct and one that's actually great. You're the person who brings samples to team meetings without being asked, because you want real feedback from real people, not just data from a lab report.

You're data‑driven but not data‑dependent. You can design a study to answer a question rigorously, and you can also make a good call based on sensory instinct when the situation calls for it. You document both, own both, and follow up on both.

• B.S. or M.S. in Food Science, Food Engineering, Nutrition, Chemistry, or a related field. Equivalent experience is genuinely accepted. This is not a box‑checking requirement.
• Hands‑on experience with sensory panel methodology: panel design, triangle tests, ballot construction, and data analysis.
• Experience writing or reviewing regulatory‑facing documentation: nutrition facts panels, ingredient declarations, and functional claim substantiation.
• Experience with stability and oxidation studies, and working knowledge of accelerated shelf‑life testing methodologies.

• Competitive salary commensurate with experience
• Wellness stipend + unlimited Everyday Dose products
• On‑site lab days in Austin, TX with hybrid flexibility
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• A small team where your scientific contributions are visible and valued
• Lunch provided Monday‑Friday when in office
• Career path