SENIOR NPD TECHNOLOGIST

The Village Bakery Group; Wrexham; On-site; AUD 68,000 - 83,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

8% Pension Contribution

28 days annual leave

Refer-a-friend scheme

Stream earnings access

Employee discounts platform

Coffee machines

Professional development

Career progression

Job summary

The Village Bakery Group is seeking a Senior NPD Technologist to lead development of bakery products for national retailers. You will coordinate cross-functional teams, manage concept-to-launch processes and liaise with customers to ensure on-time delivery of new products.

Ideal candidates have a food-related degree and 2–3 years’ NPD experience, strong communication, and excellent project management skills. The role offers a competitive salary and extensive development opportunities.

Qualifications

• Food-related degree and 2–3 years’ experience in NPD across multiple retailers.
• Strong communication, project management and organized approach.
• Proactive and diligent mindset with attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and drive development of products with external partners and internal teams to meet timelines.
• Manage customer accounts with NPD/EPD from concept through launch.
• Direct contact with customers/retailers, face-to-face and in writing.
• Work to tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment to meet milestones.
• Champion documentation through concept to launch, including recipes and forms.
• Lead feasibility and pre-launch meetings and product launches.
• Source new ingredients and ensure compliance approval.
• Prepare and review ingredient declarations and nutritional information.
• Attend quality panels and benchmarking sessions, keep project trackers updated.
• Support Group NPD manager with customer presentations.

Skills

Strong communicator

Project management

Self-driven

Education

Food-related degree

Job description

Skills

If you have the Senior NPD Technologist experience and skills we are looking for then you will receive a total reward package that includes:

• A competitive salary of £40,000 p/a
• 28 days annual leave (Inc of Bank Holidays)
• Access to Stream (formerly Wagestream) – a financial wellbeing benefit that lets you track earnings and access earned pay before payday, plus budgeting tools and money support to help you stay in control.
• Access to an exclusive employee benefits/discounts platform where you can save £££s on your everyday spends
• Excellent coffee machines available free-of-charge
• Professional development opportunities and qualifications
• A progressive working environment that puts its people at the heart of what it does
• Great opportunity for career development

What would you get for working here?

• A competitive salary of £40,000 p/a
• 8% Pension Contribution
• 28 days annual leave (Inc of Bank Holidays)
• £250 refer-a-friend scheme
• Access to Stream (formerly Wagestream) – a financial wellbeing benefit that lets you track earnings and access earned pay before payday, plus budgeting tools and money support to help you stay in control.
• Access to an exclusive employee benefits/discounts platform where you can save £££s on your everyday spends
• Excellent coffee machines available free-of-charge
• Professional development opportunities and qualifications
• A progressive working environment that puts its people at the heart of what it does
• Great opportunity for career development

What would you be doing?

Our Vision as a business is to be the “Go-to” supplier of bakery products, working nationally with retailers such as M&S and Waitrose on their premium private label range and regionally through the Village Bakery brand. In achieving this vision, we want to be recognised as a family business that continually invests in the future through the development of our people, quality and food safety culture, equipment and processes.

Responsibilities

• You will liaise with external partners and internal departments in order to co-ordinate and drive the development of products throughout the business and ensure that project timelines and targets are achieved.
• Manage customer accounts with NPD & EPD projects, from concept through to launch
• Direct contact with customers / retailers, face to face and written communication.
• Work to tight deadlines in a fast pace environment ensuring that all key milestones are met.
• Champion all documentation throughout concept to launch process - including recipes, submission forms, customer presentations, QAS/ CQMs, launch folders, factory paperwork.
• Manage all tasks associated with product launch - organoleptic testing, lab analysis, packaging etc
• Lead on feasibility meetings, pre-launch meetings and product launches
• Sourcing of new ingredients and ensuring these are approved by the Compliance Manager
• Responsibility for ensuring that product samples are sent to customers according to agreed specifications and requirements prior to despatch
• Support team’s workload to \"get the job done\"
• Work closely with relevant specification writer to ensure alignment with project updates
• Attend quality panels when required and or Competitor benchmarking sessions
• Keeping up to date with competitors and planning in regular benchmarking sessions
• Keeping up to date with latest food trends.
• Artwork sign off
• Maintain up to date project trackers
• Attend weekly NPD meetings and update on projects and critical paths
• Support the Group NPD manager with customer presentations
• Generation of ingredient declarations and theoretical nutritional’s and completion of customer submission forms
• Review of shelf-life results with Site Quality Manager to agree proposed shelf life
• Familiar with customer codes of practice.
• Check off recipe v specification prior to launch.

What skills and qualifications would you need?

• To be considered for the role of Senior NPD Technologist the ideal candidate will have a food related degree and at least 2-3 years’ previous experience within NPD, working on own-label products across multiple retailers.
• You will be a strong & confident communicator who is proactive and highly organised.
• Excellent project management skills
• Strong self-drive and diligent mindset, with good attention to detail

So, who are we?

If you haven’t heard of us before we are a family owned and managed Craft Bakery producing an award-winning range of Bread, Morning Goods, Pies and gluten free products.

Our business has been producing products in this category since 1964 and since then we have grown in success due to our reputation for quality, innovation and technical experience.

As a result of this continued growth, we now operate from a number of world class and well invested bakeries in and around Wrexham, including our dedicated Gluten free site ‘Gluten Freedom’ and our state-of-the-art ‘Super Bakery’ at Ash Road.

We look forward to welcoming you to our team soon!