NPD Concept Developer

LCJ; Lancashire; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Contributory pension scheme

Retailer Discount Scheme

Competitive package

Job summary

Park Cakes in Oldham is seeking an NPD Concept Developer to join the established NPD team. The role supports product development from concept through to customer submissions, sourcing ingredients and coordinating trials with the Technologist and Packaging teams.

Strong costing and analytical skills are essential for delivering costed, market-ready concepts. The ideal candidate will have a food science background or relevant experience, with a track record in NPD and a practical understanding of

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent with food and/or baking specialism.
• Experience in a busy NPD environment is preferred.
• Strong costing and analytical capabilities for recipes.
• Ability to produce and review costings accurately.

Responsibilities

• Develop and design products to meet briefs in line with market benchmarks and commercial goals.
• Source raw materials and work with Packaging Innovation to create fit-for-purpose packaging.
• Advance products through stage-and-gate processes and maintain proper paperwork.
• Organise organoleptic assessments and present benchmarking data for proposals.
• Attend customer submissions and maintain key customer relationships.
• Manage timelines and mitigate risks to avoid delays in approval and launch.

Skills

Attention to detail

Costing recipes

Analytical skills

Education

Degree in Food Science or related

Job description

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
• Contributory pension scheme
• Retailer Discount Scheme