NPD Formulations Technologist

Henderson Brown Recruitment; Manchester; On-site; GBP 25,000 - GBP 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading recruitment agency is looking for an NPD Formulations Technologist to join a vibrant development team in Manchester. This role involves refining powdered supplement formulations, conducting stability tests, and ensuring compliance with food standards. The ideal candidate will have 1-2 years' experience in food or supplement development, strong attention to detail, and excellent organizational skills. Join a company that values creativity and collaboration in product innovation.

Qualifications

• Experience in food, beverage, flavour, or supplement development.
• Understanding of powdered product behaviour.
• Basic knowledge of flavour chemistry and sensory principles.
• Strong documentation and organisational skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and refine powdered supplement formulations.
• Conduct stability and shelf-life testing.
• Create and maintain technical documents.
• Work with marketing for product insights.

Skills

Attention to detail

Collaboration

Creativity

Basic knowledge of flavour chemistry

Strong organisation skills

Education

1-2 years' experience in food, beverage, flavour, or supplement development

Job description

Overview

Are you hands‑on, curious, and excited by the idea of turning creative ideas into real products? We're looking for an NPD Formulations Technologist to join a fast‑paced product development team and help create category‑leading powdered supplements, flavour systems, and functional blends.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone with early experience in food, beverage, flavour, or supplement development who is ready to take the next step towards a more influential and technically accountable role.

What You'll Be Doing

As part of an NPD/R&D team, you'll support projects from the first spark of an idea through to lab sampling, sensory testing, stability checks, and manufacturing handover - all from a brand‑new purpose‑built facility.

Product Development & Formulation

• Develop and refine powdered supplement formulations (proteins, pre-workouts, hydration, health blends, etc.) from brief to sample.
• Create and optimise flavour systems, sweetness profiles, and sensory balance.
• Conduct bench trials, prototypes, and iterative testing to perfect taste, solubility, texture, and stability.
• Work closely with the NPD/R&D Manager to deliver projects on time and to spec.

Technical & Lab Work

• Prepare lab samples and maintain accurate formulation records.
• Conduct stability and shelf‑life testing on powders and flavour systems.
• Maintain lab equipment, calibration schedules, and ingredient libraries.
• Support scale‑up trials and first production runs for smooth factory transition.

Compliance & Documentation

• Work with Quality and Regulatory to ensure all formulations meet food safety, nutritional, and legislative standards.
• Create and maintain technical documents including specs, batch sheets, and logs.
• Assist QA with raw material checks and certification requirements.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Partner with procurement on ingredient sourcing and supplier samples.
• Provide marketing with technical insights, claims support, and product details.
• Work with internal manufacturing to move products from bench to full‑scale production.

What You'll Bring

Essential

• 1-2 years' experience in food, beverage, flavour, or supplement development (Graduates with relevant experience will also be considered)
• Strong understanding of powdered product behaviour (flow, solubility, stability, moisture sensitivity)
• Basic knowledge of flavour chemistry, sweeteners, masking agents, and sensory principles
• Excellent attention to detail and comfortable working in a lab environment
• Strong organisation and documentation skills

Desirable

• Experience with sports nutrition, wellness, or functional foods
• Knowledge of UK/EU food regulations and nutritional compliance
• Exposure to scale‑up processes and factory trials
• Sensory training or experience in flavour optimisation

Who You Are

We'd love to hear from you if you're:

• Inquisitive, proactive, and keen to experiment
• Comfortable working at pace with shifting priorities
• Commercially aware and able to balance creativity with cost and practicality
• A strong communicator who collaborates well with technical and non‑technical teams