Innovation Executive

About OWN:

"Only Whats Needed (OWN) is people-powered food platform by Revant Himatsingka (Food Pharmer) that builds products with the people of India. We want to build trust in packaged food by building with people, making key decisions public, and keeping ourselves open to public scrutiny by sharing comprehensive test reports by competent third party labs.

About the Role:

This is a call to build products that make India healthier - the products wont be made in the boardroom but by going on the road & listening to 140 cr Indians!

The mission

Only Whats Needed exists for one reason: to help 140 crore Indians become healthierby building nutrition products that are simple, clean, minimal-ingredient, and brutally honest.

We dont hide behind marketing. We dont build in secret. We build in public, with Food Pharmer and a community that votes, questions, and holds us accountable.

If youve ever felt angry that India is forced to choose between tasty and trustworthy

If youve ever wanted your science to reach millionsThis role is that chance.

A genuine chance to join & be the change maker!

The role (read this carefully)

• You are the nerve centre
• You sit in the middle of R&D, Quality, Supply, Manufacturing, Contentand you convert a belief into a real product people that can consume safely and confidently.
• Everything depends on you.
• If an idea becomes a product, it becomes one through you.
• If something breaks in trials, timelines, quality, vendor promises, or formulationit is on you!
• If we ship something were proud ofit ships through you.
• This is not a job for intellectual thinkers, fence sitters- Its for builders who focus on hardcore execution!

This is not a desk job

You will travel. You will get your hands dirty. You will do the basics yourself

• Visits to suppliers, labs, contract manufacturers, packaging vendors
• Being present for pilot runs, line trials, scale-ups, stability pulls, root-cause investigations
• Working round the clock (early mornings, late nights, sometimes tough hours)
• Own outcomes without egobecause the mission is bigger than the role
• If you need comfort, predictability, this wont fit.
• If you want responsibility, speed, truth, and impact at scalewelcome.

What youll own (end-to-end)

1) Build products the Only Whats Needed way

• Problem insight formulation prototyping trials stability specs launch
• Relentless focus on minimal ingredients, clean formulations, natural inputs,
• Make trade-offs visible and defensible: taste vs label vs cost vs manufacturability

2) Be the cross-functional closer

• Drive daily/weekly execution across:
• R&D (formulation, iterations)
• Quality (specs, testing plans, compliance, risk)
• Supply (vendors, MOQs, lead times, costing)
• Manufacturing (process feasibility, yields, line behavior)
• Marketing/Brand (truthful claims, consumer education)
• You dont coordinate. You close loops and ship.

3) Build in public, with evidence

• Convert community feedback + votes into products
• Ensure we can explain every choice simply:
• Why this ingredient? Why not that one?
• What evidence supports this claim?
• What did we test and why?
• Document learningswins and failureswithout defensiveness

4) Protect trust as the #1 metric

• Be the internal voice that asks:
• Is this ingredient truly necessary?
• Raise the bar even when its harder

Who you are (non-negotiables)

Required

• Minimum 2 years of experience
• Science background
• Deep interest in health
• First-principles thinker: you can reason from basics, not copy what competitors do
• Hustler-builder mindset: you act fast, solve problems, and do what it takes to ship right
• Tremendous humility, zero ego: you care about outcomes, not credit
• Comfort with tough work hours
• Strong written + verbal clarity: you can align scientists, vendors, and creatives with precision

What we value

• Truth over trend
• Evidence over noise
• Speed with standards
• Humility with ownership
• Public accountability
• Service mindset- this is all about India getting healthier

Application (Mandatory- no exceptions)

Once your profile is shortlisted, you will need to answer the below 2 questions

Q1. What is the next product Only Whats Needed should make & why?

Include: the problem, who it serves, what Only Whats Needed means for the ingredient list, and how youd validate it.

Q2. What makes you the ideal candidate to join Food Pharmers journey?

Be specific: what youve built, what you believe, and what youre willing to do to make this mission real.