Product Development Manager

Pilgrim's Europe; Luxulyan; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Pilgrim's Europe is seeking a Product Development Manager to lead New Product Development and Existing Product Development across key customer accounts. You will drive innovation with cross-functional teams, ensure products are developed, scaled, and launched to meet customer expectations, commercial targets, and regulatory requirements.

You will shape the future food agenda, contribute to strategy, and coach a team across Product & Innovation, Process, Culinary, Commercial and Site functions.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a Product Development role within the food manufacturing industry.
• Demonstrated success in launching food products from concept to market.
• Product costing experience and commercial awareness.
• Understanding of budgeting processes.
• Supply chain knowledge, including ingredient and packaging sourcing.
• Strong project management and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Strong analytical skills with exceptional attention to detail.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Passion for food innovation, consumer trends, and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead customer-focused NPD and EPD projects from concept through to launch with internal teams.
• Manage multiple projects and critical paths, ensuring timely delivery and documentation.
• Support product costing activities and ensure commercial viability of development projects.
• Coach and develop team members, promote cross-functional collaboration and continuous improvement.

Skills

Product Development

Project Management

Stakeholder Management

Budgeting

Excel

Education

Food industry qualification or equivalent

Tools

MS Excel

MS Word

PowerPoint

Job description

Product Development Manager Location: Bodmin Department: Product & Innovation Reporting to: Head of Product & Process Development or Senior/Product & Process Manager Shape the Future of Food Innovation Are you passionate about food, consumer trends, and bringing innovative products to market? At Pilgrim's Europe , we're looking for a talented Product Development Manager to play a pivotal role in delivering exciting new food products from concept through to successful launch. This is a highly visible role where you will work closely with customer teams, cross-functional stakeholders, and leadership teams to drive innovation, manage end-to-end product development projects, and support business growth through commercially focused product solutions.

About the Role

As Product Development Manager, you will lead and manage New Product Development (NPD) and Existing Product Development (EPD) activities across key customer accounts. Working collaboratively with Product & Innovation, Process, Culinary, Commercial and Site teams, you will ensure products are developed, scaled up, and launched successfully while meeting customer expectations, commercial targets, and regulatory requirements. You will be a key contributor to innovation pipelines, customer strategies, and continuous improvement initiatives, helping to shape the future food agenda for both Pilgrim's Europe and our customers.

Key Responsibilities

• Product Development & Innovation

  Lead customer-focused NPD and EPD projects from concept through to launch. Work with customer and internal teams to identify commercially viable innovation opportunities. Support product ideation sessions and long-term innovation projects. Drive continuous product improvement initiatives to enhance quality, value, and customer satisfaction. Ensure all products meet customer codes of practice, legislative requirements, allergen standards, sustainability commitments, and welfare expectations. Identify emerging food, market, and consumer trends to inform future product development.

• Project Management

  Manage multiple projects and critical paths concurrently, ensuring successful delivery against agreed timelines. Lead products through the Concept-to-Launch gate process, ensuring transparency and accurate documentation. Build and maintain product information and recipes within relevant systems. Coordinate cross-functional teams to ensure smooth product development and launch execution. Provide regular updates to customers, internal stakeholders, and senior leadership teams.

• Commercial & Strategic Delivery

  Contribute to customer growth plans and joint business objectives. Support product costing activities and ensure commercial viability of development projects. Balance innovation, quality, operational feasibility, and customer expectations. Deliver against key Product & Innovation functional KPIs, including NPD revenue and project conversion targets. Support value chain and business improvement projects.

• Leadership & Team Development

  Coach, support, and develop team members to maximise performance and engagement. Conduct regular one-to-one meetings and performance discussions. Assist with workload planning and resource allocation across projects. Promote best-practice ways of working through continuous improvement and benchmarking activities. Foster strong cross-functional collaboration and communication.

What We're Looking For

Essential Experience & Skills

• Proven experience in a Product Development role within the food manufacturing industry.
• Demonstrated success in launching food products from concept to market.
• Product costing experience and commercial awareness.
• Understanding of budgeting processes.
• Supply chain knowledge, including ingredient and packaging sourcing.
• Strong project management and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Strong analytical skills with exceptional attention to detail.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Passion for food innovation, consumer trends, and continuous improvement.

Desirable

• Relevant product category experience.
• Experience working with geographically dispersed teams.
• Degree in Food Science, Marketing, Business, or a related discipline.

Qualifications

• Relevant food industry qualification and/or equivalent industry experience.

Why Join Pilgrim's Europe?

This is a fantastic opportunity to influence category-leading product innovation within one of Europe's leading food businesses. You'll work alongside passionate experts, collaborate with major retail and foodservice customers, and help create the next generation of successful products. If you're a commercially minded food innovator with a passion for delivering exceptional products and leading development projects from idea to launch, we'd love to hear from you.

Our Values

Availability - We are open, responsive, and ready to embrace new challenges.

Humility - We listen, respect others, and value different perspectives.

Discipline - We deliver on our commitments and maintain high standards.

Sincerity - We act with honesty, integrity, and respect.

Ownership - We take responsibility and drive results.

Determination - We focus on achieving success together.

Simplicity - We focus on what matters most and create practical solutions.