NPD Concept Developer

NPD Concept Developer - Oldham

Development Opportunity or Experienced

Park Cakes is a c£280 million business which supplies cake and desserts to service the own brands of major retailers, there are three sites based in the North West at Heywood, Oldham and Bolton.

Our products include, high end celebration cake products, slab cakes and mainstream desserts, we mostly supply Marks & Spencer's although we also supply other major retailers.

We are a profitable business with a clear commercial strategy, a flair for NPD and have a strong relationship with our customers and suppliers through our energy, style and commitment to partner relationships and quality.

We currently have a vacancy to work as a Concept Developer in our established NPD Department.

The role would suit either a graduate in a Food science discipline or someone with Food Concept Development experience at the start of their career.

Example Accountabilities

• Develop and design products to meet the brief in line with the market benchmarks, inspiration and commercial aspirations.
• Brief and source raw materials in line with raw material sourcing policies and ork closely with Packaging Innovation Manager to create packaging fit for purpose.
• Develop products in line with the stage and gate processes and procedures.
• Support the Concept Manager to ensure all paperwork is completed accurately and timely throughout the development process.
• Organise organoleptic assessment of products throughout development process.
• To provide as much product information as possible; dimensions, weight, handling requirements, shelf life, factory processes if known, volumes, launch dates.
• Attend customer submissions and support Concept Manager with customer updates and regular meetings and build and maintain relationships with key customer contacts.
• Check stock of packaging samples to present product in the correct packaging at feasibility and customer submissions and organise with Packaging Manager, when required.
• To work closely with Technologist to set their daily workplan with regular 121 to check in on performance and PDPs.
• Work with our commercial, operations, technical and purchasing teams to remove roadblocks and ensure concepts are repeatable, sustainable and scalable.
• Complete, understand and present benchmarking, for existing and new products at internal and customer presentations.
• Attend factory trial sign off panels to ensure production quality matches the kitchen quality signed off by the customer.
• Review the accuracy of all recipes inputted into our systems to ensure they meet cost, weight and nutritional requirements.
• Manage critical path timelines, escalating and mitigating incomplete tasks and risks to prevent delays in product approval and launch.

Ideal Candidate Attributes:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent with food and/or baking specialism or equivalent knowledge gained through on the job training.
• Ideally some work experience of working in a busy NPD environment and experience of a similar role demonstrating a proficiency in all elements of product development.
• Excellent attention to detail and ideally knowledge and experience of costing recipes.
• Able to demonstrate analytical skill and the ability to produce and reviewing costings.

Hours: Typically 8.30am - 5pm Monday to Thursday and 8.30am to 4pm on a Friday but flexibility across shifts is required for trials.

Package: Competitive package - please provide details of your current package when you apply + benefits including Contributory pension scheme, Retailer Discount Scheme

To Apply: Please press the 'Apply' button, and shortlisted candidates will be contacted by Park Cakes within 28 days.

Keywords: NPD Manager, NPD Supervisor, NPD Technologist New Product Development Technologist Quality Manager Technical Manager QA Manager Quality Control QC Technician FMCG Food Drinks Beverages Manufacturing Manchester Oldham Bolton Lancashire Warrington Wigan