NPD Manager

Zest

Join one of the UK's most reputable chilled food groups as their next New Product Development Manager, at a site that has secured a multiple million pound investment and is rapidly expanding. This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced NPD professional to take the lead on innovation, drive real commercial impact and be a key face of the business in front of customers.

As NPD Manager, you will own and drive the NPD and Innovation programme across the site, managing a robust Stage & Gate process that delivers products right first time, on brief and on time. You will build a proactive innovation pipeline covering NPD, EPD and new concepts, aligned to business strategy, food trends and category insight, while ensuring every product delivers on eating quality, operational capability, food safety and commercial viability.

You will be a key customer-facing representative for the business, leading presentations, benchmarking sessions and product showcases, and building strong, lasting relationships with major retailer and customer teams. Confidence in front of the customer is essential, as is the ability to manage critical paths effectively, keep launch plans on track and communicate project status, risks and mitigation plans clearly and proactively.

Leading a team including a Senior NPD Technologist, Junior NPD Technologist and NPD Apprentice, you will coach and develop your team, creating a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement, while working closely with Operations, Technical, Commercial, Procurement and Planning to keep everything moving in the right direction.

To succeed in this role, you will bring solid NPD experience gained within food manufacturing, ideally chilled, along with a genuine passion for food, strong commercial awareness and a track record of managing teams and customer relationships with confidence.

If you are ready to bring your NPD expertise to a business investing seriously in its future, please get in touch with Nicola Richardson on (phone number removed) or email (url removed) to find out more.

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