New Product Development Specialist

Description:

Are you passionate about creating delicious, high-quality food products that delight consumers and push the boundaries of innovation? This is an exciting opportunity for a Senior NPD Technologist to join a growing food manufacturing business that’s known for crafting indulgent yet nutritious products for the modern, on-the-go consumer.

In this hands-on role, you’ll have the chance to bring ideas to life - developing, trialling, and launching new products from concept through to production. If you’re a creative food scientist with strong technical know-how and a love for innovation, this could be the perfect fit.

The Role:

As Senior Technologist, you’ll take ownership of the full NPD lifecycle - from idea generation and recipe development to scale-up and commercial launch. You’ll collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including Production, Quality, Marketing, and Supply Chain, to ensure every new product meets the highest standards for taste, quality, safety, and commercial viability.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and deliver innovative, market-ready products aligned with business goals and consumer trends.
• Lead projects through each NPD stage, managing timelines, documentation, and cross-functional communication.
• Conduct trials both in the test kitchen and full-scale manufacturing environments.
• Apply your technical expertise to optimise product performance.
• Work with suppliers to trial new ingredients, packaging, and processing technologies.
• Oversee packaging development projects, ensuring sustainability, functionality, and cost-effectiveness.
• Ensure full compliance with food safety, quality, and regulatory requirements.
• Track market and competitor activity to identify innovation opportunities and category trends.
• Support and lead sensory evaluations to validate product quality and consumer appeal.
• Represent the NPD function in customer meetings and presentations where required.

About You:

• Degree-qualified in Food Science, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 4 years’ experience in the food industry, ideally within NPD, R&D, or Technical roles.
• Strong understanding of dairy processing techniques and equipment (pasteurisers, fermenters, fillers, mixers, etc.).
• Skilled in managing multiple projects simultaneously while maintaining attention to detail.
• Proven experience leading trials and scaling recipes from development to production.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to work effectively across departments and with external partners.
• A creative, hands-on problem solver who’s passionate about food innovation and consumer trends.