Senior R&D Scientist

Cat Person is a new DTC (direct-to-consumer) brand shaking up the $75B pet industry by bringing respect, love and innovation to a long overlooked and underserved category: cat care. We started Cat Person because we saw a real need: thoughtfully designed food and goods made just for cats and the people who love them.

Launched in March 2020, and born out of Harry’s Labs, the innovation arm of Harry's, Inc., Cat Person offers a line of essentials to help cat parents better care for their cats, including food, treats, furniture and toys. A design-forward brand, we consider both the cat’s and the cat person’s needs in everything we make and do. It’s all part of our mission: to make life with cats even more awesome than it already is.

Though our team is small, our vision is grand. We aren’t just here to revolutionize cat care for the millions of cat parents in the US; we’re redefining what it means to be a cat person in culture today. Every role at Cat Person plays a part in redefining cat persons for the modern era.

The Senior R&D Scientist will play a critical role in setting the business up for operational success in upcoming innovation launches for food, treats and topper products. The individual will be responsible for managing the product lifecycle for highly visible projects that includes project planning and timelines, pricing and demand planning, packaging development, commercialization, launch and continuous improvement. You will also be responsible for owning end-to-end projects including developing project plans through gathering inputs from a large number of internal and external stakeholders, distilling that information down into a comprehensive timeline, and communicating it back out to the team. An ideal candidate can creatively problem solve and prioritize when issues might arise, with the central goal of moving projects forward to hit launch deadlines. This is a unique role that touches almost every aspect of the current Cat Person operations and will therefore provide significant exposure to the leadership team at the company.

• Drive product development of new food, treat or topper products through your technical expertise with external and internal customers.
• Own the cross-functional project and product management associated with critical innovation launches - focusing on (but not limited to) the R&D product development cycle and operational launch readiness 
• Work collaboratively with internal and external teams to support the end-to-end execution of all projects with the goal of delivering projects on time and on budget
• Synthesize information from multiple stakeholders to produce and communicate clear project plans (including key deadlines, milestones) and status reports
• Lead cross functional meetings to keep teams informed of upcoming deadlines and identify/resolve any key issues
• Prioritize workstreams when necessary to meet the end objective
• Work closely with all members of the cross functional teams to have a constant pulse on overall project progress
• Submit project deliverables and ensure that they adhere to quality standards

• Bachelor’s degree in scientific discipline and 5+ years experience in a project management or product development role 
• Experience working with project management software and tools (e.g. Gantt charts, Asana, Excel, GSuite)
• Hyper-organized and loves details
• Intellectually curious with a strong understanding of fundamental science and engineering.
• Collaborative cross-functional partner, with the ability to interface and manage relationships with various stakeholders in the business
• Self-starter with an exceptional ability to multi-task, able to prioritize work across workstreams with a perspective on what’s most important 
• Strong communicator, able to distill complex information and present to a broad audience
• Desire to dive deep into the ins and outs of how pet food and products are sourced and manufactured as well as their path into consumer hands
• Experience in food or pet food manufacturing (experience with extrusion or retort processed foods a plus)
• Thrive in fast-paced, startup-y environments with a “no task is too small” mentality and able to find innovative solutions to problems

• Reporting to Director of R&D, and working closely with the Director of Strategy & Operations
• Will also have significant exposure to the full cross-functional team including: brand, creative, digital product/engineering, and customer experience - in addition to external 3rd party partners

About Cat Person:

Cat Person is a new brand committed to strengthening the relationship between cats and cat persons by delivering cat care essentials - including food, treats and products - that are specially made for the unique needs of cats, and thoughtfully designed for their people. By putting modern feline lovers at the center of their research, design, and marketing processes, Cat Person is prioritizing the unmet needs of this fragmented, $75 billion pet market and flipping the script on the stereotype about cat owners. The company was founded by a small team of passionate cat people and launched in March 2020. Today, it is part of the Harry's Inc. family of brands.

Cat Person and Harry’s Inc. are committed to bringing together individuals from different backgrounds and perspectives. We strive to create an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive, feel a sense of belonging, and do great work together.

Cat Person is an Equal Opportunity Employer, providing equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals. We recruit, hire and promote into all job levels the most qualified applicants without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions), parental status, age, disability, genetic information, citizenship status, veteran status, gender identity or expression, transgender status, sexual orientation, marital, family or partnership status, political affiliation or activities, military service, domestic violence victim status, arrest/conviction record, sexual or reproductive health decisions, caregiver status, credit history immigration status, unemployment status, traits historically associated with race, including but not limited to hair texture and protective hairstyles or any other status protected under applicable federal, state and local laws. Cat Person’s commitment to providing equal employment opportunities extends to all aspects of employment, including job assignment, compensation, discipline and access to benefits and training.

We respect the laws enforced by the EEOC and are dedicated to going above and beyond in fostering diversity across our company

This role can be done remotely, however there may be location constraints based on where Cat Person is registered and able to employ individuals. Please work with your recruiter and your hiring manager to understand any location constraints. We are authorized and able to employ individuals in many, but not all states. If you are not located in or able to work from a state where we are registered or able to employ individuals, you will not be eligible for employment. Please speak with your recruiter to learn more.

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We can’t quantify all of the intangible things we think you’ll love about working at Harry’s, like the exciting challenges we tackle, the smart and humble team you’ll get to work with, and our supportive and inclusive culture. That said, our salary ranges are based on paying competitively for our size and industry, and are one part of our total rewards package, which also includes a comprehensive set of benefits and our equity program. The base salary hiring range for this position is $108,000-$125,000, but the final compensation offer will ultimately be based on the candidate’s location, skill level and experience.