Food Technology and Product Development Specialists for Food and Beverage

Founded in 1967, we are a boutique firm with over 55 years of executive search experience. The retained recruitment service Bristol offers includes sourcing, screening, submitting qualified candidates, scheduling interviews, and negotiating employment and compensation packages of selected finalists. 

Bristol Associates’ Food and Beverage practice recruits within the Food Technology and Product Development segment of the industry. Our F&B recruiters place top candidates in a variety of key food technology and product development functions. We specialize in senior, executive, and management positions.

Simply put, placing top executives is what we do, and we know what makes a great leader. Below are just some of the qualities and skill sets in this discipline that we look for:

  • Systematic understanding and awareness of food science and technology topics relevant to role
  • Awareness of new research and ideas in the discipline
  • Comprehensive knowledge of food science and market needs in order to identify potential projects and opportunities
  • Conducts appropriate research for the design and development of new products and processes
  • Formulates problems in precise terms and identifies key issues
  • Tackles open-ended and unfamiliar problems using appropriate methodology

Are you looking to hire exceptional talent with the skills listed above? Submit an employer inquiry and one of our consultants will be in touch with you soon!

Do these qualities describe you? Submit your resume today to be considered for our current openings.

Join the Many Food and Beverage Companies That Have Filled Their Roles with Bristol Associates

Our Satisfied Clients Love to Share Their Experiences Working with Bristol Associates

“Bristol Associates is my go-to firm for all manager level and higher recruiting needs in the food / bev space. The food and beverage team takes the time to learn about my company and the position as well as the subtleties that determine fit within the culture. I am grateful for their patience, as we have a stringent recruiting process, and that has led to more protracted searches than either of us would prefer. But the investment in the relationship has yielded some outstanding candidates. Most recently, we took months to look for a planning / purchasing manager, and they nailed it with the perfect person that brought skill, experience, worth ethic, and cultural fit all within our budget for the position.”

David Choe

Chief Executive Officer, Jo's Candies

“I’ve found Bristol Associates to be incredibly helpful in working with COR strategically to identify how our organization needs to change as we grow. Bristol Associates has been adept at helping us find great employees in multiple sales channels and at multiple levels of the organization.”

Mike Forbes

Vice President of Sales and Marketing, California Olive Ranch

“I have partnered with the Bristol team both as a candidate and as a hiring agent over the past 20 years. Bristol Associates has been a pleasure to work with and does a great job of matching both skills and culture between candidates and companies. This is so important in today’s competitive job market to ensure good career alignment and retention.”

Dave Nicholson

Chief Executive Officer, GFF, Inc. / Girard's Haco Swiss

“Bristol Associates was wonderful to work with. Their team was responsive, proactive, and professional from start to finish. We would definitely consider using Bristol again.”

Barb Stuckey

President and Chief Innovation Officer, Mattson: We Make Food Happen

Why Work with Bristol Associates?

Over 55 Years in Business

We have specialized in executive search since 1967, and are now in our 3rd generation of family ownership.

Specialized

We have unrivaled industry knowledge in the areas in which we focus.

Individualized Service

We provide consultative, individualized service to our client companies. We pride ourselves in conducting our processes confidentially when necessary.

Network of Candidates

With over 1M+ relevant candidates in our private database, and growing every day, we have a strong network of senior-level talent across the board.

Responsiveness

Our recruiters value a communicative relationship with our select client companies and candidates, providing updates throughout the search.

Experienced

Our exceptional lead recruiters each have at least 15 years’ of experience in executive search.

Partner with Bristol Associates

Our Successful Food and Beverage Food Technology and Product Development Searches Keep Our Clients Coming Back

Director of Product Development

We placed the Director of Product Development for a healthy snacks company. Our candidate who filled the position had experience in new product development in extruded and baked food categories and a Bachelor’s degree in Food Science. The position is responsible for partnering with co-pack customers to create benchtop samples of healthy food products to meet sensory and nutritional needs. They also have a heavy involvement in quality parameters, ingredient and vendor selection, commercialization, and product and process improvement, and interface with Sales and Marketing.

Process Chemist

We completed this search in the Northwest for a rapidly growing CBD manufacturer. The Process Chemist troubleshoots a wide array of synthetic chemistry issues at the bench scale and applies corrective measures when needed. Our placed candidate conducts and documents process optimization studies and applies changes to the modified route, while optimizing processes within both non-GMP and cGMP laboratories.

Food Scientist

Our client is one of the largest vertically integrated hemp producers in the county and produces cannabinoid isolates and distillates (CBD). The Food Scientist is responsible for developing new formulations, resolving any challenges or issues during product development, and preparing formulations for commercialization. The position also formulates products while simultaneously considering critical technical issues such as food safety, food stability/shelf life, cost, nutrition, and scalability. Our placed candidate works collaboratively as part of a cross-functional team including personnel from Sales, Quality Control, Purchasing, and Production on new product development and to resolve ingredient and product technical issues.

We Can Fill Your Food Technology and Product Development Roles in the Food and Beverage Industry

  • Director of Product
  • Director of Product Management
  • Director of Production Operations
  • Director of Research and Development
  • Director of Technology
  • Food Scientist
  • Food Technologist
  • Head of New Product Development
  • Manager of Research and Development
  • Product Developer
  • Product Development Manager
  • Product Innovation Manager
  • Senior Director of Research and Development
  • Senior Manager of Research and Development
  • Senior Product Developer of Food and Beverage
  • Vice President of Process Development
  • Vice President of Product Innovation
  • Vice President of Research and Development