From Clorox's posting. “We” and “our” refer to the employer.
Clorox is the place that’s committed to growth – for our people and our brands. Guided by our purpose and values, and with people at the center of everything we do, we believe every one of us can make a positive impact on consumers, communities, and teammates. Join our team. #CloroxIsThePlace
Your role at Clorox:
Clorox R&D turns consumer needs into trusted products that improve everyday life. In Brita, that work has a direct connection to people, water, and the planet—helping millions of consumers to access better-tasting water while reducing reliance on single-use bottles. As a Senior Scientist on the Brita R&D team, you will help shape the future of Brita product systems by leading devices (for example, pitcher systems) development and commercialization across one of Clorox’s most recognized brands.
This is a highly cross-functional, hands-on technical leadership role for someone who wants to combine engineering depth, consumer empathy, manufacturing partnership, and business impact.
Evergreen Position Summary (Mission/Purpose):
Brita’s mission is to enable better water for people and the planet. As a Senior Scientist in Brita R&D Product Development, you will lead complex and often ambiguous technical work focused on device, rigid systems, and packaging innovation and commercialization across the Brita portfolio.
You will serve as the technical lead for programs that span concept development, product system design, molded part and assembly development, prototyping, testing, risk assessment, design for manufacturing, tooling qualification, packaging development, scale-up, and start-of-production.
This role requires translating consumer needs, business priorities, technical feasibility, quality requirements, sustainability goals, and manufacturing realities into robust product and process solutions while leading technical collaboration with internal teams, external development partners, suppliers, plants, and manufacturing partners.
This evergreen role is expected to build and apply deep Brita systems and device expertise, influence cross-functional and leadership decisions, elevate technical best practices, and strengthen organizational capability through knowledge capture, training, and improved ways of working.
This evergreen position will be in our Pleasanton, CA office, and the individual will be expected to be in the office for a minimum of 3 days a week. Relocation assistance will be offered.
In this role, you will:
In this role, you will provide senior-level technical leadership for Brita device, systems, and packaging product development across the portfolio, with accountability for complex initiatives that influence the broader Brita business:
Own Device, Systems, and Packaging Development and Scale-Up: Develop and refine product system designs, molded part and assembly specifications, color/material/finish requirements, indicator/electronic device requirements, packaging specifications, process parameters, and performance requirements through prototyping, lab testing, supplier trials, tooling qualification, and full-scale manufacturing.
Apply strong technical judgment, structured problem solving, statistical analysis, tolerance assessment, and design-of-experiment approaches to deliver consumer delight, product quality, manufacturability, sustainability, and supply continuity.
Lead Complex Technical Programs: Identify, lead, and execute new product development and technical initiatives where consumer metrics, product architecture, molded part design, packaging needs, supplier capability, tooling approach, or manufacturing location may be undefined. Bring clarity to ambiguity, shape technical plans, and drive decisions that advance Brita business priorities.
Lead Cross-Functional Technical Decisions: Serve as the R&D technical lead and “one R&D voice” across Marketing, Insights, Design, Sales, Supply Chain, Quality, Regulatory, Legal, project teams, suppliers, plants, and external manufacturers.
Translate consumer, business, regulatory, quality, manufacturing, cost, sustainability, and customer needs into technical requirements, specifications, claims support, risk assessments, validation plans, and commercialization-ready decisions that balance impact, speed, feasibility, and execution risk.
Drive External Partner Development and Manufacturing Excellence: Lead technical collaboration with external product design firms, development partners, tooling partners, packaging suppliers, technology suppliers, domestic and international manufacturers, and Clorox plants.
Define technical requirements and success criteria, manage partner workstreams, review and challenge design solutions, guide prototyping and validation plans, resolve technical issues, and ensure external partners deliver against quality, cost, timing, regulatory, sustainability, and commercial launch expectations.
Elevate Best Practices and Capability: Create, approve, and educate teams on product development, test method, specification, risk assessment, packaging development, tooling qualification, trial, and commercialization best practices. Capture technical learning, train others on Brita device and systems development, and strengthen the broader department’s ability to deliver with speed and rigor.
Champion Digital, Data, and AI-Enabled R&D: Use digital tools, data analysis, models, and emerging AI-enabled ways of working to improve speed, quality of decisions, technical learning, knowledge management, documentation, and delivery of R&D work outputs.
Provide organizational leadership beyond project work through mentoring, recruiting support, communities of practice, training, and knowledge sharing.
Travel up to approximately 25% to suppliers, plants, and manufacturing partners, including international travel.
What we look for:
5+ years of R&D, product development, product design, device engineering, systems engineering, packaging, process development, molded part or small consumer electronics development, consumer product systems, manufacturing scale-up, or related technical experience.
Product development, product design, commercialization, packaging development, or applied technology development experience is strongly preferred. Please see the next bullet points for more details.
Knowledge of injection molding, rigid consumer product systems, small electronics, sensors, packaging development, DFM, tooling qualification, tolerance analysis, ASTM packaging test methods, CAD, FEA, basic electronics, or process validation is preferred but not required if the candidate brings strong technical depth, product development orientation, and relevant transferable experience.
Highly relevant experience may come from consumer products, durable goods, beverage systems or appliances, medical devices/medtech, diagnostics devices, applied engineering, packaging, plastics, molded components, regulated products, manufacturing scale-up, supplier technical management, or adjacent technical industries—especially where the candidate has led product design, verification/validation, tooling qualification, small electronics commercialization, or technology transfer work.
Skills and Abilities
Demonstrated ability to lead undefined, complex technical work and bring clarity to ambiguous product, system, packaging, supplier, tooling, or manufacturing challenges.
Strong technical judgment with hands-on testing, methodical problem solving, data analysis, statistics, DOE, tolerance assessment, capability analysis, reliability evaluation, and sample-size rationale.
Ability to translate consumer needs, business priorities, brand/design intent, regulatory requirements, quality expectations, sustainability goals, and manufacturing constraints into technical specifications and execution plans.
Strong systems-thinking capability; able to integrate molded parts, assemblies, indicators/electronics, packaging, user experience, manufacturability, cost, quality, and sustainability into coherent product systems.
Ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders, leadership teams, suppliers, tooling partners, and manufacturing partners through clear technical recommendations and risk-based decision making.
Ability to manage external technical partners by setting clear expectations, translating business and consumer needs into technical direction, reviewing partner outputs, driving decisions, and holding development partners accountable for milestones and deliverables.
Experience developing or improving best practices, test methods, technical standards, packaging specifications, knowledge capture, training, or capability-building approaches for a broader technical team.
Ability to leverage digital tools, CAD or related technical software, data analysis, models, and AI-enabled ways of working to improve speed, learning, documentation, and quality of technical decisions.
Strong communication, organization, learning agility, and ownership mindset; able to work independently and cross-functionally with minimal supervision in a fast-paced environment.
Education Level/Degree: Minimum Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Packaging, Product Design Engineering, Mechatronics/Electromechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science/Engineering, or a related technical field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
Workplace type: This evergreen position will be in our Pleasanton, CA office, and the individual will be expected to be in the office for a minimum of 3 days a week. Relocation assistance will be offered.
Our values-based culture connects to our purpose and empowers people to be their best, professionally and personally. We serve a diverse consumer base which is why we believe teams that reflect our consumers bring fresh perspectives, drive innovation, and help us stay attuned to the world around us. That’s why we foster an inclusive culture where every person can feel respected, valued, and fully able to participate, and ultimately able to thrive. Learn more .
[U.S.]Additional Information: At Clorox, we champion people to be well and thrive, starting with our own people. To help make this possible, we offer comprehensive, competitive benefits that prioritize all aspects of wellbeing and provide flexibility for our teammates’ unique needs. This includes robust health plans, a market-leading 401(k) program with a company match, flexible time off benefits (including half-day summer Fridays depending on location), inclusive fertility/adoption benefits, and more.
We are committed to fair and equitable pay and are transparent with current and future teammates about our full salary ranges. We use broad salary ranges that reflect the competitive market for similar jobs, provide sufficient opportunity for growth as you gain experience and expand responsibilities, while also allowing for differentiation based on performance. Based on the breadth of our ranges, most new hires will start at Clorox in the first half of the applicable range.
Your starting pay will depend on job-related factors, including relevant skills, knowledge, experience and location. The applicable salary range for every role in the U.S. is based on your work location and is aligned to one of three zones according to the cost of labor in your area.
–Zone A: $109,400 - $210,000
–Zone B: $100,300 - $192,500
–Zone C: $91,200 - $175,000
All ranges are subject to change in the future. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process.
This job is also eligible for participation in Clorox’s incentive plans, subject to the terms of the applicable plan documents and policies.
Please apply directly to our job postings and do not submit your resume to any person via text message. Clorox does not conduct text-based interviews and encourages you to be cautious of anyone posing as a Clorox recruiter via unsolicited texts during these uncertain times.
To all recruitment agencies: Clorox (and its brand families) does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to Clorox employees, including any members of our leadership team. Clorox is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.
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