NPD Technologist

Zest Food Jobs; Slough; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Flexible holidays

Free meals

Pension contributions

Learning and development

Job summary

Zest is recruiting an NPD Technologist to join our food development team. You will drive new product concepts from idea through to production handover, ensuring taste, nutrition, and shelf life meet brand standards.

You will manage costing, pricing, supplier engagement, and feasibility analyses, while coordinating with development, technical, operations and supply chain teams. A strong, collaborative mindset and passion for food are essential.

Qualifications

• A genuine love of food and curiosity about new product concepts.
• Experience in new or existing food development within a manufacturing setting.
• Background in food manufacturing, with chilled meals experience being a real plus.
• A degree in Food Technology or Food Science.

Responsibilities

• Lead concept to handover: development, testing, and documentation.
• Oversee costings, pricing, and sourcing for new ingredients and products.
• Coordinate with procurement, technical, and production on specs and approvals.
• Prepare feasibility and handover materials for cross-functional teams.

Skills

Food knowledge

Food development

Chilled meals

Communication

Organizational skills

Can-do attitude

Team player

Education

Degree in Food Technology or Food Science

Job description

Zest is exclusively recruiting an NPD Technologist to join the food development team at a chilled food manufacturer. You'll sit right in the middle of the action working cross functionally with Development, Technical, Operations and Supply chain - working each new product from concept through to the point it's ready to hand over to production.

You'll be the person making sure every recipe is set up properly and that each concept genuinely stands up to scrutiny on taste, cooking performance and shelf life. That means running tastings, buying in competitor products to benchmark against and making sure everything meets brand and nutritional standards before it ever reaches a customer tasting or sign-off meeting. You'll also build the food presentations that pull it all together — recipe, cost, nutritionals, method and keep the paperwork behind it accurate and up to date.

You'll manage the costing and pricing of new ingredients and products, build out the scenarios that support decision-making and keep an eye on how currency, market and seasonal shifts might move the numbers down the line.

When a project calls for a new ingredient, you'll be the one driving it —briefing procurement and technical on the spec required, chasing approvals against the critical path, and checking everything lines up with brand values, labelling rules and the realities of the production line. You'll build up real knowledge of the supplier base along the way and help troubleshoot when sourcing hits a snag.

You'll be a regular at the weekly development meetings, keeping feasibility and handover paperwork on track and making sure chefs have everything ready to demonstrate. Beyond the day-to-day, you'll also pick up ad-hoc projects and be comfortable managing stakeholders across the business to get them over the line.

What you will bring:

• - A genuine love of food
• - Experience in new or existing food development
• - A background in food manufacturing -chilled meals experience is a real plus
• - A degree in Food Technology or Food Science
• - Confident, engaging communication skills
• - Strong organisation and the ability to juggle competing priorities
• - A positive, driven, can-do attitude
• - A creative, independent streak and genuine enjoyment of working as part of a team

Whats in it for you:

• - Working for a B Corp business that really stand on Quality and sustainability
• - Bonus paid out annually on top of your Salary*
• - Flexible Bank Holidays
• - Free food!!!
• - Great Pension contributions
• - Endless Learning and Development opportunities - really take your career where you want it to go

Please note: Sponsorship is not available for this role, all candidates must have UK Right to work.