Product Development Specialist

AG Care is a growing Canadian brand that makes products that work, creates foundations for healthy hair and skin and gives back. And we have an exciting opportunity for a **Product Development Specialist**to join our growing team

**The opportunity for you**

The Research & Development team plays a key role in bringing AG Care’s innovation to life. From early concept development to commercialization, R&D ensures our products meet the highest standards of performance, safety, and compliance.

This position is hands-on and execution-focused. A typical day includes formulating prototypes, troubleshooting technical challenges, optimizing existing products, and collaborating across departments to support product launches and improvements. You’ll work closely with Operations, Quality, and Marketing to ensure every formula not only performs beautifully but also meets all internal and external standards.

Attention to detail, curiosity, adaptability, and a proactive mindset are key. You’re a problem solver who thrives in a fast-paced, innovation-driven environment—and you keep the lab as organized as your thoughts.

**You’ll be responsible for**
- Support R&D product development initiatives. Perform R&D experiments and prepare formulations. Help develop new products, optimize and improve processes and/or formulations for current products.
- Help create and prepare R&D formulas, ingredient lists and manufacturing processes and verify regulatory, retailer and AG Care compliance before the R&D processes are transferred for scale up and commercial manufacturing.
- Prepare Bill of Materials (BOM), Commercial Formula (CF) documents and batching and production SOPs in collaboration with Quality.
- Review ingredients lists for product labels on Asana software in collaboration with Quality.
- Help troubleshoot, research and provide technical input on formulation and process issues with current commercial products and products in development.
- Provide assistance to Operations, CX, Marketing and Quality to address consumer complaints, manufacturing deviations and investigations and testing issues or failures.
- Obtain supplier information for raw materials, ingredients and containers and closures. Check information for compliance with regulations, retailer requirements, AG requirements/standards and other applicable requirements. Notify supervisor and Quality of potential issues and non-compliance. Input information on Good Face and/or UniPoint software, as applicable.
- Ensure raw material and formula information is current and maintained in Good Face and UniPoint software systems. Become proficient in the software systems to conduct the regulatory and retailer compliance checks for raw materials in current commercial products and new products in development.
- Identify opportunities for improving current processes, formulations, products, test methods and equipment. Collaborate and provide technical and quality advice to Operations and cross-functional teams to implement the improvements.
- Support Head of Product Development to identify and research new product ideas and technologies.
- Conduct testing for current commercial products and new products in development.
- Maintain the R&D lab to ensure lab activities and chemicals meet safety requirements and are maintained in a state ready for use. This includes but is not limited to ensuring that equipment/instruments are maintained in working condition (calibration/qualification/verification if required is performed and current), lab supplies and raw materials are available and ordered if required, lab samples and chemicals are appropriately labeled and properly stored, lab is clean and orderly.
- Maintain R&D records. Prepare R&D reports.
- Support Quality team as assigned, including but not limited to document and label review, incoming material inspections, troubleshooting manufacturing or testing issues/failures for commercial products, sampling and sending samples for analysis.
- Supporting Quality with development, maintenance and updates of company policies and procedures in support of GMP and other applicable regulations and requirements.
- Check raw materials and product ingredient lists for compliance with retailer, regulatory and AG Care requirements.
- File regulatory submissions within the required timeframe e.g. Health Canada new cosmetic notifications, FDA MoCRA product filings, California Cosmetic and Prop 65.
- Assist with product performance studies as assigned.

**What you offer**
- Bachelor’s degree or higher in Chemistry, Biology, Cosmetic Science or related scientific field
- Minimum 3-5 years of hands-on R&D formulation development experience with emulsions
- Experience working in GMP manufacturing facility
- Demonstrated ability to write SOPs and reports, computer literate
- Good communication & organizational skills, attention to detail and accuracy
- Ability to manage multiple activities and projects and meet timelines
- ability to work independe