Lead Expert Process Development (f/m/d) FoodTech Startup

Planet A Foods is for people who want to change the future of food. We are reinventing how the world produces food ingredients, replacing scarce and unsustainable raw materials with scalable, clean, and delicious alternatives. Our first product, a cocoa-free chocolate, is just the beginning. Our ambition is to build a new global champion in food ingredients. At Planet A Foods, you'll join a bold, highly committed, international team of scientists, engineers, operators, and industry experts united by one goal: creating real, measurable planetary impact. As Lead Expert Process Development (f/m/d), you will own the industrialization of our core production process end-to-end turning R&D breakthroughs into equipment specifications, operational realities, and a commercially viable cost structure. You will serve as the strategic interface between the CTO, Product & Application, Production, CAPEX and Procurement. We are looking for a proactive driver who brings the analysis, recommendations, and execution plans to the table. With a critical scaling milestone in 2027 and a continuous-process target on the horizon, your work will directly impact whether our business plan succeeds. Alongside our Experts for Flavor & Analytics and IP & Data, you will form our Science Hub, reporting directly to the Head of R&D (currently our CTO, Sara Marquart). Please note: This position is an 18-month fixed-term contract to cover parental leave, with the potential to transition into a permanent role upon contract completion.

• Drive Strategy & Scale: Support shaping the strategic roadmap for capacity scale-up and COGS optimization, proactively providing the CTO, Production, and Procurement teams with the data-driven direction needed to make sound decisions.

• Own Process & Governance: Own end-to-end feasibility studies and tech transfers for newly developed processes, holding clear review and approval authority over non-standard process modifications.

• Lead Through Influence: Navigate through cross-functional matrix teams with a hands-on approach, mentoring process engineers and keeping key stakeholders aligned

• Bridge R&D to Reality: Translate laboratory breakthroughs into robust equipment specifications and production requirements, rigorous technology stress-tests and clear financial models

• Guard Standards & Escalate: Act as a critical gatekeeper by exercising veto rights on high-risk implementations, escalating immediately to the CTO if product quality, safety, CAPEX headroom or target COGS are at risk

• Align Engineering & CAPEX: Feed validated process specifications directly into the Pilsen 2.0 CAPEX roadmap, ensuring seamless alignment between process industrialization and capital expenditure

• Hands-on experience scaling lab-scale processes to profitable industrial production amidst real-world complexity

• Degree in Food Technology or Chemical/Process Engineering with a deep understanding of how process parameters affect food product sensory (taste, texture, stability)

• Deep expertise in food or powder-handling unit operations, with a hands-on mastery of thermodynamics, heat transfer, particle technology and mass balances

• Familiarity with ATEX environments and a clear understanding of how physical scaling effects impact complex unit operations

• Hands-on experience with P&ID design, automation schemes, equipment procurement, and a clear grasp of manufacturing costs, capital expenditure and operating expenses (COGS/CAPEX/OPEX)

• Intellectually curious, creative problem solver who challenges the status quo.

• Fluent in English; conversational German or Czech is a plus.

• Early ownership and responsibility in a fast-moving environment

• Collaborate with a passionate international team working at the edge of what's possible

• Work in a rare food-tech startups that is scaling and operating in a 24/7 4-shift production system

• A position where you can help to challenge a trillion-dollar industry!

• A very competitive compensation and opportunity to grow

• Stuff that other startups do as well (30 days vacation, tasty lunches, snacks, drinks, vouchers, gym...)

• PLUS: Chocolate. Every. Single. Day.