Director of Innovation & New Product Development -US

ABOUT TRIP

TRIP’s mission is to create calm in the everyday chaos for our community, offering next-generation wellness products to power their lifestyle and nurture mental wellbeing.

Co-founders, husband and wife team Olivia and Daniel discovered plant-based wellness after a transformative personal experience and decided to launch TRIP in 2019 to bring the most delicious, highest quality functional drinks and supplements to millions of people globally.

Now the world’s #1 Calming Beverage Brand, TRIP’s award-winning drinks and wellness products are crafted with botanicals and adaptogens to help people relax, unwind and find balance. Since launch, TRIP has rapidly expanded from the UK to across Europe and North America, generating over $100 million in sales. TRIP products are now available in leading supermarkets, natural retailers and online.

Our vision is to become the global leader in calming drinks and supplements. Synonymous with calm in the same way Red Bull is with energy. We move fast, think big and are committed to becoming the defining brand for a generation who drinks less but prioritises mental wellbeing more than ever. There has never been a better time to join our incredible team and be part of the movement!

THE ROLE

This is a hands-on innovation role for someone who loves the full craft of NPD, not just the ideas, but the satisfying work of making them real. As our first dedicated US innovation hire, you will own the process end-to-end: spotting the trends, shaping the concepts, briefing suppliers, and seeing products through to launch alongside our Technical Project Manager and Director of Compliance.

You will be the US market's voice in our global NPD process, bridging the energy of American wellness culture with TRIP's distinct brand identity. You'll work closely with our UK-based product and brand teams, as well as US retail partners, trend agencies, and and flavor houses to bring ideas to life and then follow through until they're on the shelf.

This includes…

Trend spotting & consumer insight

• Get into the field yourself, visit retailers, talk to buyers, and spend time where US wellness consumers actually shop.

• Monitor emerging US consumer trends across functional beverages, wellness supplements, and adjacent lifestyle categories and work with our category team in the US to build these into NPD briefs

• Attend key US trade shows (Expo West, SupplySide, NACS, etc.) to spot white space and competitive moves early.

• Build and maintain a living US trend radar to keep TRIP one step ahead.

NPD pipeline development

• Manage the prioritized US NPD pipeline across drinks and supplements, aligned to commercial and brand strategy.

• Create best-in-class briefs for our flavour houses and ingredient suppliers, evaluate samples hands-on, and iterate until the product is right.

• Lead development sessions with our US suppliers to format and format architecture, within commercial spec.

• Partner with US R&D and US co-manufacturers to develop and iterate prototypes, working closely with our US Project Technical Manager

• Own gate reviews and stage-gate documentation, ensuring ideas are commercially sound before they move forward.

• Coordinate US regulatory considerations (FDA, supplement labelling, health claims) with our US Director of compliance.
  

Cross-functional collaboration

• Act as the connective tissue between the US market and TRIP's UK-based product, brand, and commercial teams.

• Brief and work closely with brand and design to ensure new products land authentically within the TRIP world.

• Support the US commercial team with innovation sell-in materials for key retail partners.

• Report clearly and concisely on pipeline status, risks, and opportunities to senior leadership.

• Work closely with our UK NPD Managers to ensure consistency of product globally

ABOUT YOU

Essential

• 8 years+ of hands-on NPD experience in food & beverage, wellness, or consumer goods, you've briefed suppliers, reviewed prototypes, and seen products through to launch.

• Comfortable with the detail: writing briefs, and keeping the pipeline moving from brief to launch.

• Excellent Project Management skills - you can create a critical path and stick to timelines.

• A deep, genuine passion for US wellness trends, you know what's hitting shelves at Whole Foods, what's blowing up on TikTok, and what's next.

• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills, comfortable influencing without authority, especially across time zones.

• Clear, confident communicator who can distill complex information into a compelling story for any audience.

• Experience working with supplement or functional beverage categories.

• Excited by the opportunity to build something, someone who sees early-stage as an advantage

Bonus points

• Experience at a high-growth DTC or omnichannel wellness brand, or a start-up

• Familiarity with US supplement regulations (DSHEA) and FDA labelling requirements.

• Existing relationships with US flavour houses, co-manufacturers, or ingredient suppliers.

• Experience managing or mentoring junior team members.