Director, Process Development and Engineering

Who We Are

The Farmer’s Dog was born from a mission to change the landscape of pet health, providing dogs and their humans with honest, smart, and simple care. We’re starting by radically improving the $90 billion pet food industry, replacing bags of highly-processed pellets with a personalized subscription service that sends complete and balanced, freshly-made dog food directly to customers’ doors. Our ultimate goal is to create innovative, delightful and personalized experiences across all aspects of pet care, and we believe our direct-to-consumer business model, holistic approach to growth, and dynamic culture uniquely position us to shepherd this backwards industry into the future.

To date, The Farmer’s Dog has delivered over 1 billion meals nationwide and raised over $150M in funding to help us build a company as healthy as the dogs who are eating those meals. Join us as we continue to develop ways of bringing peace of mind to customers, health to their companions, and much-needed change to the way people feed and care for their pets.

#LongLiveDogs

What We Stand For and Where You'll Come In

The Director of Process Engineering leads with a focus on new process development and process control to deliver exceptional manufacturing performance and a strong competitive advantage.  With equal parts innovation and continuous improvement mindset, this leader will be an important leader in the R&D organization. 

One Team: We don’t think of ourselves as “Acquisition Marketers”, “Engineers”, “Data Analysts”, or “Product Managers”. Beyond denoting skill sets and areas of expertise, we don’t think departments matter. We’d rather align ourselves to the goals we’re working to achieve and make sure we have necessary subject matter expertise to drive meaningful impact. We strive to orient ourselves around customer problems TOGETHER – getting the right people, with the right context, in the right rooms/Zooms to solve problems holistically.

We are skeptical about everything and precious about nothing:  Ideas can and should come from anywhere, and we aren’t tied to our own. We proactively source input. We talk to our customers and leads regularly and are quick to change course if we know there’s a better or more impactful way to solve problems.

We consider the customer journey in all of our decisions:  We know that no interaction exists in a silo and therefore understand how important every single one is.  We ensure our strategy sets prospective and new customers up for success and drives long-term retention.  We answer questions and address problems early and proactively.  We understand the value of different channels, initiatives, and messages and know how to articulate impact and advocate for prioritization holistically.

We Execute For Impact: We don’t subscribe to “best practices” or “industry KPIs”. We’re uninterested in how we compare to “benchmarks”; instead we orient ourselves around being the best we can possibly be. Similarly, we don’t subscribe to rigid or classical expectations of roles – i.e. acquisition is hyper-focused on improving customer retention and experience.

We Are Focused and Work Without Assumption: We are not beholden to ideas. We have goals and believe everything beyond that is a series of hypotheses to validate. To that end, we seek to work in sequence and not in parallel. We constantly ask ourselves, “what’s the most important hypothesis I should be working on right now? How do I confirm or reject that hypothesis as fast as possible?”. We rarely have timelines/deadlines and are constantly taking in new information and adjusting our priorities accordingly. We don’t expect to be perfect the first time.

How You'll Make An Impact

• you will drive innovation, technological advancements, and continuous improvement across the organization. With a focus on process design, scale-up, and efficiency optimization, you will lead the development of new technologies and methodologies that enhance product quality, food safety, operational efficiency, and sustainability.
• You will play a critical role in designing, testing, and validating new processes, ensuring they are scalable and commercially viable. Working closely with Food Scientist, Nutrition, Quality, and Engineering teams, you will introduce and refine innovative processing solutions, leveraging data-driven insights to improve manufacturing consistency, cost efficiency, and sustainability.
• You will champion process innovation, collaborating with cross-functional teams to de-risk new technologies, improve throughput, and enhance automation. By partnering with R&D, project engineering, and operations, you will ensure seamless technology transfer from concept to commercialization. You will lead scaling up novel production methods, integrating advanced process controls, and continuously refining pilot-to-plant transfer strategies to drive business growth.
• As a key decision-maker, you will analyze complex process challenges, leveraging statistical modeling, AI-driven process optimization, and advanced problem-solving methodologies (e.g., RCA, FMECA, DOE) to unlock new efficiencies. You will influence and lead cross-functional teams, shaping the future of process engineering and setting the standard for cutting-edge, high-performance manufacturing that prioritizes safety, quality, and sustainability.

We’re Excited About You Because:

• You are a process engineering expert with 10+ years of experience, specializing in R&D-driven process design, scale-up, and optimization. You have deep technical knowledge of complex food processing systems, with particular expertise in sugar confectionery, thermal processing, and advanced automation.
• You have a strong foundation in continuous improvement methodologies such as TPM, Lean, Six Sigma, and DOE, and you are highly skilled in leveraging tools like Big Data Analytics (BDA), 5S, Kaizen, RCA, and FMECA to identify process inefficiencies and drive performance optimization.
• You are an innovation leader, experienced in developing and implementing new process technologies. You have successfully scaled up emerging technologies from pilot plant to full commercial production, ensuring robust, efficient, and scalable manufacturing solutions.
• You are an expert in advanced process controls and automation, leveraging smart manufacturing, AI, and real-time process monitoring to optimize efficiency, reduce variability, and enhance product quality.
• You excel in problem-solving and data-driven decision-making. You take a systematic approach to complex technical challenges, using root cause analysis (RCA), failure mode and effects analysis (FMECA), and predictive modeling to drive continuous improvement.
• You have a strong ability to influence and collaborate across teams, working seamlessly with R&D, Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, and OEM partners to ensure alignment on process innovation goals.
• You have a strategic mindset, capable of synthesizing technical insights into actionable business decisions. You bridge the gap between R&D and operations, ensuring new process technologies are both scientifically validated and commercially scalable.
• You are a compelling communicator, adept at engaging with executive leadership, technical teams, and cross-functional stakeholders to drive alignment and accelerate innovation adoption.
• You are highly adaptable and thrive in fast-paced environments, capable of leading complex process transformations while managing costs, resources, and timelines effectively.
• You are willing to travel up to 60%, actively engaging with R&D centers, pilot plants, manufacturing facilities, and global innovation partners to drive hands-on process improvements.
• You are a true R&D business partner, seamlessly collaborating across engineering, quality, safety, and operations to drive breakthrough process innovations that enhance both product quality and operational efficiency.

• .You love dogs.

Office Guidelines

We are an in-office culture, made of in-office people who thrive on the collaboration and magnetism of working in a shared space. We are seeking individuals who excel in this type of environment, where being present fosters deeper connections and engagement.

Our Belonging Philosophy:

Our company’s mission is rooted in deep, genuine care for dogs – and for the people who love them. As an organization we are full of individuals who are unique in many ways, but all united in a mission of providing true peace of mind to dog lovers everywhere. Fixing this industry and improving the lives of pets and their people will be a difficult, decades-long endeavor. We believe the best use of our time, energy, and resources as a collective team is to focus on this mission, and on supporting our team to do their best work and be their best selves. In support of this we’re committed to hiring and supporting a diverse workforce, and investing in internal structures, opportunities, hiring/promotions processes, and training that create and sustain an inclusive team. We strive to provide an experience at TFD that will be invested, meaningful and memorable as we progress on the journey to reimagine how we feed and care for our pets.

A Few of Our Best Benefits

• Dog-friendly office in Greenwich Village
• Market-competitive compensation and equity packages
• Comprehensive Healthcare, Dental, and Vision
• Company supported mental health benefits
• 12 week paid parental leave
• Competitive 401k plan with company match
• Flexible PTO 
• Discounted fresh food for your pup
• Your pet interrupting video calls (and in-person meetings) is now a feature, not a bug

We commit to building a competitive compensation package and company environment for all individuals to thrive. We believe in competitive base compensation rooted in location specific market data and performance along with equity ownership in the company that allows every team member to build their personal wealth as the company grows, just as much as we believe in fostering a culture that supports our team members personally, professionally, and holistically. For this role the anticipated hiring base compensation range is $185,000 - $210,000USD annual and the compensation offered will include a robust market competitive package of base and equity. In addition to your base compensation offer you will also receive equity ownership in the company. More information about the value of this equity will be shared at the time of offer. This range is representative of NYC Market Data if you are applying to this role outside of the NYC area the range may change.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The Farmer's Dog, Inc. is an equal employment opportunity employer and does not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status or any other legally protected characteristic or status. For more information, please visit Know Your Rights.

Reasonable Accommodations

TFD complies with applicable federal, state, and local disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities.  If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact [email protected].