Technical, Quality & NPD Manager: Food Supplement (Nutraceuticals) - Part Time

Part-Time Technical, Quality & NPD Manager – Nutraceuticals

Location: Remote – India
Type: Part-time, 20 hours per week
Compensation: INR 12,00,000 – 20,00,000 per annum (pro-rated / structured for part-time engagement, depending on candidate profile and engagement model)

About Think Organic Limited

Think Organic Limited (TOL) is a UK-based nutraceutical business focused on high-quality supplements and functional nutrition products. We are a fast-growing business with ambitions to reach 8 figures within the next two years.

We operate an outsourced supply chain model. We do not manufacture or store products ourselves. We work with multiple UK-based co-manufacturers and a network of ingredient, packaging, laboratory, and logistics partners. Our inventory is primarily stored through Amazon, with additional inventory managed through a 3PL partner.

Our supplier network includes ingredient, packaging, and container suppliers in the UK, India, and China.

We are now looking for an experienced technical leader to strengthen our quality systems, food safety controls, regulatory governance, and technical new product development processes across the entire supply chain.

Role purpose

This is a high-ownership, part-time leadership role for an experienced technical professional from the nutraceutical / food supplement industry. The successful candidate will build and improve systems, processes, and technical governance across our outsourced supply chain.

This role is not a routine factory QA role. It is best suited to someone who has experience building systems and managing technical risk for nutraceutical, food supplement, or outsourced food manufacturing operations.

The role will cover:

• quality assurance and food safety systems
• supplier and manufacturer approval and oversight
• regulatory and label compliance
• technical support for new product development
• traceability, recall, and batch release systems
• packaging and documentation controls
• coordination with manufacturers, laboratories, and suppliers

The role will work directly with company leadership and act as the primary technical point of contact for QA, regulatory, and technical product matters.

Key responsibilities

1) Build and strengthen the quality management system

• Design, document, and improve the company’s quality and food safety management system for an outsourced nutraceutical supply chain
• Develop practical policies, SOPs, templates, and controls that are proportionate to the company’s size and growth stage
• Build systems for deviation handling, CAPA, change control, complaints, supplier approval, document control, and technical review
• Raise the maturity of the company’s quality systems toward a BRC-level structure and HACCP-aligned approach

2) Food safety and supply-chain risk management

• Develop and maintain a robust food safety plan covering ingredient suppliers, packaging suppliers, contract manufacturers, storage partners, and logistics interfaces
• Identify technical and food safety risks across the supply chain and define suitable controls, monitoring, and escalation processes
• Review supplier, manufacturer, and service-provider certifications, audit reports, quality documentation, and questionnaires
• Assess adverse findings and ensure timely follow-up and corrective actions

3) Supplier, manufacturer, packaging, and 3PL oversight

• Build and maintain an approved supplier / approved manufacturer program
• Define qualification and requalification criteria for raw material suppliers, packaging suppliers, manufacturers, and warehouses / 3PLs
• Lead or coordinate annual review and audit planning for suppliers, manufacturers, and logistics/storage partners
• Review documentation for China-sourced packaging, including food-contact compliance, specifications, and pre-shipment controls

4) Testing, specifications, and batch release

• Develop risk-based raw material, packaging, and finished-goods testing plans
• Coordinate and review laboratory testing for microbiological, heavy metals, water activity, and other relevant parameters
• Define technical specifications for ingredients, packaging, and finished products
• Build and operate a finished-goods batch release process, including review of CoAs, test results, batch records, and release documentation
• Escalate and investigate non-conformances, out-of-specification results, and adverse quality trends

5) Recall, traceability, and technical documentation

• Design and maintain robust recall and traceability systems across the supply chain
• Run mock recalls and traceability exercises
• Ensure product technical files are complete, current, and audit-ready
• Build systems that allow rapid retrieval of product, batch, supplier, and testing records

6) Regulatory and labelling compliance

• Review products, formulations, labels, pack copy, mandatory statements, warnings, and claims for technical and regulatory compliance
• Coordinate independent review where needed for regulatory edge cases
• Support compliance with UK supplement, food information, and related product-labelling requirements
• Maintain a clear product approval process before launch or change implementation

7) Technical support for NPD

• Support new product development from a technical, quality, and regulatory standpoint
• Review product briefs and convert them into technical requirements
• Coordinate with manufacturers on formulation development, trial planning, feasibility, and commercial readiness
• Assess ingredient and packaging suitability, risk, quality requirements, and testing needs
• Define technical launch requirements including specifications, testing plans, shelf-life inputs, and label readiness
• Support competitor and market benchmarking from a technical and product-compliance perspective

8) Manufacturing and technical agreements

• Support the drafting, implementation, and maintenance of technical agreements and manufacturing agreements with co-manufacturers and key suppliers
• Clarify quality responsibilities, release responsibilities, testing obligations, change-notification requirements, and escalation processes

9) Customer transparency support

• Help design and implement a robust customer transparency program
• Support systems through which customers can access validated certificate-of-analysis information at product and batch level
• Ensure the underlying technical and document-control process is reliable and defensible

Required qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Food Technology, Food Science, Nutrition, Microbiology, Biotechnology, Pharmacy, or a related discipline
• Preference (but not mandatory) for candidates from leading institutions such as NIFTEM Kundli, NIFTEM-Thanjavur, ICT Mumbai, or comparable top-tier institutions in India with strong food science / food technology programs.

Experience

• Minimum 5 years of relevant industry experience
• Experience in the nutraceutical, food supplement, functional food, or adjacent food industry
• Proven experience building systems and processes, not only maintaining documentation
• Experience working with contract manufacturers / outsourced manufacturing models
• Experience with supplier approval, QA systems, technical documentation, specifications, testing programs, and batch release
• Experience supporting new product development in a technical capacity
• Experience coordinating with laboratories, suppliers, manufacturers, and packaging vendors
• Experience with regulatory and label review for food supplements or similar products

Technical capabilities

Candidates should demonstrate hands-on experience in as many of the following as possible:

• HACCP
• GMP
• BRCGS, FSSC 22000, ISO 22000, or comparable systems
• CAPA
• change control
• traceability
• recall systems
• supplier qualification
• technical agreements
• risk-based testing plans
• packaging compliance
• product specifications
• CoA review
• food safety documentation
• NPD technical review
• label and claims review

Preferred

• Auditor training or practical audit experience
• Experience with UK, EU, export, or international compliance environments
• Experience with Amazon / e-commerce supply chains
• Experience with China-sourced packaging or international vendor management
• Experience in a fast-growing startup, challenger brand, or outsourced brand environment

Personal profile

• Strong systems thinker with the ability to build practical, scalable processes
• Commercially aware and able to balance rigor with business pragmatism
• Strong written and verbal English
• Comfortable working independently in a remote role
• Able to influence external partners and challenge suppliers constructively
• Detail-oriented, organized, and decisive

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation of INR 12–20 lakhs annually (pro-rated for part-time engagement) depending on experience.
• Flexible part-time remote role (20 hours/week) suitable for experienced professionals seeking strategic, high-ownership work.
• High-impact role in a fast-growing international nutraceutical company
• Opportunity to grow to lad
• Opportunity to build and shape the company’s quality, technical, and product development systems across a global outsourced supply chain.
• Exposure to international manufacturers, suppliers, and regulatory environments, working closely with UK-based partners.
• Direct collaboration with company founders and the ability to influence technical and product decisions.