NPD Senior Technologist

More Years Limited; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading food innovation company in the UK seeks a Senior Product Developer Technologist. You'll lead products from concept to launch, ensuring technical excellence while driving innovation. Ideal candidates bring 3–5+ years in food product development and strong project management skills. Join a dynamic team focused on creating groundbreaking products with extensive benefits, including generous health care coverage and development budgets.

Benefits

Extensive health care cover

Annual Learning & Development budget

Wellbeing budget

Working abroad opportunities

Monthly recognition programs

Volunteer day options

Subsidised employee groups

Quarterly team events

Exclusive discounts on products

Lunch & Learn sessions

Casual dress code

Birthday off

Qualifications

• 3–5+ years of experience in food product development.
• Strong technical skills with successful launches from concept to launch.
• Experience in Added Value Meats, Thermal Processing, or Pet Food industry preferred.

Responsibilities

• Spot trends and shape the future through market research.
• Lead cross-functional squads to launch products.
• Develop new formulations balancing functionality and nutrition.
• Design and run sensory panels and compliance checks.
• Maintain technical specs for all products.
• Coordinate trials and processes from kitchen to factory floor.
• Explore new ingredients and technologies.
• Troubleshoot challenges efficiently.

Skills

Food product development

Technical project management

Collaboration

Job description

As a Senior Product Developer Technologist at Years, you'll help expand our direct‑to‑consumer range by leading both New Product Development (NPD) and Existing Product Development (EPD) projects. The NPD team's mission is to create bold, exciting products while ensuring our existing lines stay best‑in‑class—balancing creativity with technical excellence. You'll turn ambitious ideas into commercially viable products and drive improvements across the current range to strengthen our portfolio and meet evolving customer needs. The challenge lies in delivering technical precision while embracing innovation, ensuring every product that launches or evolves enhances the Years brand. Your focus will be split between hands‑on development work in the test kitchen and factory floor and strategic problem solving, finding technical solutions to complex challenges. You will act as Technical Project Lead, owning critical paths end‑to‑end for both in‑house manufactured and white‑label suppliers through pulling together Production, Marketing, Finance, Design, Customer Service, and external suppliers. This role demands a blend of ownership, initiative, and collaborative leadership, managing direct product lines across NPD and EPD with a proactive, solutions‑driven approach.

Responsibilities

• Spot trends and shape the future—dive into market research to uncover customer cravings, emerging trends, and competitor moves, fueling bold product innovation that pushes the boundaries of our industry.
• Make the magic happen—lead cross‑functional squads from Marketing, Procurement, Production, and Regulatory to turn ideas into ready‑to‑launch products.
• Create recipes worth raving about—develop new formulations that hit the sweet spot between functionality, cost‑efficiency, and top‑tier nutrition.
• Put products to the test—design and run sensory panels, shelf‑life tests, and compliance checks to ensure every launch is a winner.
• Own the technical detail—keep product specs sharp, accurate, and fully compliant, ensuring projects are up to date with all the latest information.
• Lead from the kitchen to the factory floor—coordinate trials, tweak processes, and champion technical excellence from first blend to final product.
• Chase the next big thing—explore new ingredients, technologies, and white‑label opportunities to keep us ahead of the curve (and the competition).
• Solve the unsolvable—troubleshoot challenges fast and smart, keeping every project moving and every team inspired.

Experience and Qualifications

You’ll have significant experience (3–5+ years) in food product development, with strong technical skills and a track record of delivering successful launches from concept to launch. Ideally, you’ll have worked with Added Value Meats, Thermal Processing or the Pet Food industry, but adjacent food sectors are also valuable.

You’re a strong project manager who can juggle multiple projects while maintaining precision on technical detail, confidently navigating the challenges of an ever‑growing factory and product line. Collaboration comes naturally to you, building strong relationships across Procurement, Operations, Marketing, and more. You balance sharp execution with strategic thinking to help us work smarter, deliver better products, and drive innovation. Above all, you bring a growth mindset, resilience, and a proactive, solutions‑focused approach to every project you touch.

Benefits

• Extensive health care cover including full cancer coverage and a choice of hospitals or consultants (AXA top package).
• Annual £250.00 Learning & Development budget for courses, books or other self‑learn activities.
• Annual £100.00 Wellbeing budget.
• Up to 2 weeks working abroad per year (selected roles).
• Monthly recognition through our Yappa of The Month programme.
• One volunteer day per year—dog themed or not: it’s your choice!
• Subsidised employee groups—from five a side to padel there’s loads to get involved in or the chance to start up your own group.
• Quarterly subsidised team events from axe throwing, crazy golf to cocktail making.
• Exclusive discounts on Years and Years treats for yourself and friends/family.
• Lunch & Learn programme—sessions covering topics from dog first aid to financial savviness.
• Casual dress.
• Your birthday off or a different day if it falls on a non‑working day.