NPD Manager

Found Food & Drink; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 39,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation welcomed

Job summary

Found Food & Drink in the United Kingdom is seeking an experienced NPD Manager to lead new products from concept through to commercial launch, across high-care and low-care manufacturing environments.

You will own end-to-end NPD, mentor a small team, and collaborate with Commercial, Technical, Production and Operations to deliver scalable, safe, and compliant products. Relocation candidates are welcomed.

Qualifications

• Experience leading NPD projects in food manufacturing.
• Strong understanding of regulatory and food safety requirements.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects to tight timelines and budgets.

Responsibilities

• Lead NPD projects from concept through development, validation, scale-up and launch.
• Manage multiple projects against timelines and budgets.
• Develop products aligned with customer requirements and market trends.
• Support customer presentations and product pitches.
• Lead factory trials across high-care and low-care environments.
• Manage recipe development and process optimization.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Communication

Education

Degree in Food Science/Technology/PD

Job description

Salary: Up to £65,000 base salary + Annual Bonus

Relocation candidates welcomed

Create. Innovate. Launch.

We're partnering with an established and highly innovative UK food manufacturer that is continuing to invest heavily in product development, manufacturing capability and future growth.

With an exciting innovation pipeline and strong customer relationships, the business is now looking to appoint an NPD Manager to lead new products from initial concept through to commercial launch.

This is a brilliant opportunity for an experienced food manufacturing NPD professional who wants genuine ownership, customer exposure and the opportunity to influence what comes next.

You’ll work closely with Commercial, Technical, Production and Operations, taking exciting product ideas and turning them into commercially successful products that can be manufactured safely, consistently and at scale.

The Opportunity

You’ll lead the end-to-end NPD process across both high-care and low-care manufacturing environments.

You’ll also support and develop a Senior Process Technologist and Junior Process Technologist, while managing multiple development projects at pace.

This is a role that combines creativity with commercial thinking and strong factory involvement.

You’ll be leading trials, supporting scale-up, working closely with customers and ensuring new products move successfully from development kitchen to production line.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

• Leading NPD projects from concept through development, validation, scale-up and launch.
• Managing multiple projects against agreed timelines and budgets.
• Developing products aligned with customer requirements, market trends and business strategy.
• Supporting customer presentations, innovation sessions and product pitches.
• Leading factory trials across high-care and low-care manufacturing environments.
• Managing recipe development, ingredient selection and process optimisation.
• Ensuring products meet quality, cost, performance and regulatory requirements.
• Supporting sensory evaluation, benchmarking, reformulation and cost optimisation.
• Maintaining accurate project documentation, specifications and development records.
• Supporting and mentoring members of the NPD team.

The role has genuine ownership across the full product journey, including commercial launch, factory scale-up and delivery against customer timelines.

We're looking for an experienced food manufacturing NPD professional who loves the combination of food, innovation, customers and manufacturing.

You could currently be working as an:

• NPD Manager
• Product Development Manager
• Senior NPD Technologist
• Senior Product Developer
• Senior Development Technologist

You don't necessarily need to already carry the NPD Manager title. For somebody operating at senior technologist level who is already owning projects and is ready for greater leadership responsibility, this could be a fantastic next step.

What You’ll Bring

• Proven NPD or product development experience within food manufacturing.
• Experience within high-care and/or chilled food manufacturing.
• A degree or equivalent qualification in Food Science, Food Technology, Product Development or a related discipline.
• Experience developing products for major UK retailers and/or foodservice customers.
• Experience managing projects from concept through to commercial launch.
• Hands‑on experience leading factory trials and manufacturing scale‑up.
• Strong understanding of food safety, HACCP, legislation and customer standards.
• Strong project management, communication and stakeholder management skills.

Why This Opportunity?

This is a role with genuine visibility and influence.

You’ll be joining a business investing in innovation, manufacturing capability and future growth, with the chance to directly influence the products entering its pipeline.

You’ll have ownership from concept to launch, regular customer exposure, the opportunity to develop an NPD team and the chance to work closely with manufacturing to bring ideas to life at scale.

There is a real opportunity here for somebody looking to relocate. If you’re currently based outside Wiltshire but the role feels like the right career move, we would absolutely welcome a conversation.