NPD Project Leader – Launch & Governance (Hybrid WFH)

Found Food & Drink; Guildford; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 53,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work arrangement

Job summary

Found Food & Drink is seeking an NPD Project Manager to join its Operations team in the UK. This newly created role provides structure, governance and visibility to the delivery of new product development and customer launch projects, coordinating across functions and external partners.

The role reports to the Chief Operating Officer, works closely with NPD, Operations, Commercial, Technical and Procurement, balancing governance with pragmatic delivery, and offers a hybrid pattern (one day from

Qualifications

• Extensive project management experience within a food manufacturing business.
• Experience coordinating multiple concurrent projects involving cross-functional teams and external stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of project governance, planning, risk management and project reporting.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to influence without direct authority.
• Highly organised, with the ability to prioritise effectively in a fast-moving environment.
• Commercially minded, balancing structured governance with a pragmatic approach to delivery.
• Experience working with outsourced manufacturing partners or customer-led product development programmes would be advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate the successful delivery of NPD, customer launch and innovation projects from concept through to commercial launch
• Own and develop the company's Product Development project governance framework and stage-gate process
• Manage multiple cross-functional projects simultaneously, ensuring milestones, actions and deliverables are achieved
• Chair project review meetings and provide clear reporting on project progress, risks and key decisions
• Build strong relationships across NPD, Commercial, Operations, Technical, Procurement and outsourced manufacturing partners
• Support the Chief Operating Officer with wider business improvement projects where structured project management is required
• Champion continuous improvement by reviewing completed projects and identifying opportunities to strengthen project delivery and governance
• Balance robust project governance with the flexibility needed to support commercial priorities and customer requirements

Skills

Project management

Cross-functional coordination

Stakeholder management

Governance & reporting

Risk management

Communication skills

Organisational skills

Job description

Found Food & Drink is seeking an NPD Project Manager to join its Operations team in the UK. This newly created role provides structure, governance and visibility to the delivery of new product development and customer launch projects, coordinating across functions and external partners.

The role reports to the Chief Operating Officer, works closely with NPD, Operations, Commercial, Technical and Procurement, balancing governance with pragmatic delivery, and offers a hybrid pattern (one day from