Product Developer

Waitrose & Partners; Bracknell; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking company as a Product Developer in the Own Brand team, where you will create innovative food products that resonate with customers. This role offers a unique opportunity to work in a hybrid environment, balancing office and home-based work while leading exciting projects. You’ll engage with suppliers and internal teams to ensure product quality and commercial success. If you have a passion for food trends and a knack for product development, this role is perfect for you. Embrace the chance to contribute to a company that values its partners and promotes a collaborative culture.

Qualifications

• Experience in product development within Manufacturing or Retail.
• Ability to analyze customer and market data.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver innovative products aligned with brand values.
• Collaborate with teams to ensure efficient NPD delivery.

Skills

Product Development

Market Analysis

Supplier Management

Stakeholder Management

Education

Qualification in Food or Grocery

Job description

About the role

We have an exciting opportunity to join our Waitrose Own Brand team as a Product Developer for a number of product development roles across both our fresh and ambient food categories. You will develop and deliver new & improved innovative and quality products, aligned to Own brand values whilst understanding and managing the commercial implications of development in the grocery environment. You will build, strengthen and own the NPD relationships between Waitrose and suppliers within the projects being worked on.

• Expected salary - £55,000 - £70,000

• Contract type - We have 3 permanent positions available

• Working pattern/flexible working - The Partnership has adopted a hybrid working approach, meaning you'll be able to work a mixture between the office and home based upon your personal needs whilst balancing the needs of the business. The Own Brand team aim for around 3 days a week in the office to connect and on a more ad-hoc basis to attend key meetings.

• Location - This role is based at our Bracknell Head Office, but will include travel to suppliers.

Key responsibilities

• Keeps abreast of customer strategy, insight, market direction and consumer trends including those in food and lifestyle, packaging and ingredients to anticipate current and future customer needs. Uses such insight together with internal and external sources of data to develop product proposition plans ensuring that speed to market and commercial viability is optimised.

• Able to understand and clearly articulate good, better and best tiering principles and apply with clear product values in line with the Waitrose own brand strategy.

• Good understanding of NPD capability within the supply base to support quality & innovation. Uses knowledge to contribute to supplier strategy discussions for NPD to support the ambient drinks category requirements.

• Collaborates with cross-functional teams on assigned projects to lead efficient delivery of NPD following a stage and gate development process ensuring critical path targets are met.

Essential skills/experience you'll need

• A passion for product with an active interest in food and drinks market trends, with the ability to apply knowledge and skills to the product development

• Previous product development experience within Manufacturing or Retail, including experience in launching major NPD/Brand projects from end to end

• Proven history of high quality, commercially successful product development & supplier management

• Ability to analyse and interpret customer and market data

• Stakeholder management with ability to present at all levels

Desirable skills/experience you may have

• Further qualification in food, grocery, Horti

• Buying experience; product technical experience

• Project Management

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About The Partnership

We're the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We're not just employees, we're Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there's never been a more exciting time to join us.

We're ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we're free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

Important points to note:

It's important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you'll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.

We also recommend that you apply as soon as possible as vacancies can close early if we see a high number of applicants.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.