NPD (New Product Development) Operations Strategist

Shellworks; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday allowance

Maternity leave

Paternity leave

Wellbeing allowance

Virtual GP

Cycle to work

Lunch at office

Job summary

Shellworks in London (N4) is seeking an NPD Operations Strategist to lead new product initiatives and build scalable operational capabilities.

In this hybrid role you will drive market-ready solutions, from launching D2C in new geographies to delivering new products, balancing financial, commercial and engineering perspectives.

Join a fast-growing team aiming to reach 1 billion units by 2030 and help replace plastic with high-performance, compostable materials.

Qualifications

• Experience in a high-intensity operational environment with end-to-end ownership of projects.
• Ability to break problems into fundamentals and reason to the best answer.
• Demonstrated ability to execute with precision under ambiguity and tight timelines.

Responsibilities

• Drive new products to market, delivering on financial, commercial and engineering criteria.
• Own the operations for new initiatives, including launching D2C in two geographies.
• Build robust analyses of operational expenditures to inform scaling decisions.
• Identify opportunities to improve systems and close gaps.

Skills

3+ years in ops

First-principles thinking

Operational Excellence

Bias to execution

Solution-focused

STEM background

Job description

About the Job

NPD (New Product Development) Operations Strategist

London, N4

4 days in our office, 1 day working from home

Reporting to Kelan Patel, Operations

£45-55k per annum + equity

About Shellworks

Our vision is a world where the products around you don't damage our environment or our health. At

Shellworks we're making that a reality by creating high performance plastic-free materials for everyday

products.

Our technology Vivomer makes the impossible possible. It's grown by bacteria using fermentation,

creating a material that is stable in use but degrades in every environment. Its breakthrough is being

dishwasherable and home compostable at the same time.

We've closed our Series A and are working with some of the world's most recognised brands to replace

plastic at volume. We're at an inflection point: scaling from proof-of-concept to mass-market production.

About the Role

This is a high impact role sitting at the heart of Shellworks’ desire to deliver 1 Billion units by 2030. You

will drive new initiatives to market standing up operational capabilities and relentlessly executing against

them. We are looking for a system builder who can go deep into new problems (e.g. launching our D2C

business in a new geography or delivering a new product to market) to drive Shellworks forwards.

You will need deep understanding of what Shellworks does and who we are to constantly bring

commercial/ operational & engineering views to new problems and find the right solutions for

Shellworks

Key Responsibilities:

• Drive new products to market: Own the delivery of new Shellworks products (e.g. Suri toothbrush/ Before Oral Care bottles/ Ocean Saver cleaning products), balancing financial, commercial and engineering perspectives to deliver success for the customer
• Own the operations for new initiatives: Lead the execution of our newest initiatives. In the short term this is launching direct to consumer products in 2 geographies.
• Leverage analysis for decision making: Build robust analysis of the operational expenditures, understand what decision cost and why, to maintain healthy scaling pathways
• Identify Improvement opportunities: Relentlessly hunt for ways to improve systems and fix gaps

Our Ideal Candidate

• High-agency owner: 3+ years in a high-intensity operational environment (e.g. Start-up, Strategy Consulting) where you’ve owned, end-to-end, the outcomes and process of high-stakes projects.
• Strong first-principles thinker: You break unfamiliar problems down to their fundamentals and reason your way to the best answer, balancing analysis, research and judgement to decide and move
• Operational Excellence: You execute with high precision under conditions of high ambiguity and uncertainty, maintaining momentum against tight timelines without constant supervision
• Bias to execution: You are relentless about turning strategy into shipped reality. Ambiguity and obstacles energise you rather than stall you, and you keep momentum without needing to be managed
• Solution-focused: When something isn’t working, you find another way. You’ve pushed through hard things before and you’ll learn whatever it takes to make this succeed
• STEM Background

What we offer

• 28 days holiday + statutory holidays
• 12 weeks maternity, 6 weeks paternity, both at full pay
• Heka wellbeing allowance - gym, therapy, nutrition, fertility support and more
• Virtual GP with same or next day appointments
• Cycle to work scheme - save up to 42% via salary sacrifice
• Daily catered lunch at the office

Hiring Process

• Initial Chat
• Technical task
• Onsite
• Offer subject to 2 references