Senior NPD Technologist: Lead Food Innovation & Launch

Place UK Ltd; Norwich; Remote; GBP 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

Place UK Ltd in Norwich is seeking a Senior NPD Technologist to own New Product Development (NPD) and Existing Product Development (EPD) projects from concept to launch. You will drive cross-functional collaboration with NPD, customer teams, site teams and commercial on feasible, commercially viable products and ensure compliance with legal standards, allergen controls and sustainability goals.

This role requires strong project management, technical excellence and the ability to turn market

Qualifications

• Previous experience in a Product Development role within the food manufacturing industry.
• Proven experience launching food products from concept to market.
• Product costing experience.
• Understanding of budgets and commercial drivers.
• Supply chain knowledge, including sourcing ingredients and packaging.
• Strong project management skills with experience managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills.
• Strong analytical ability and attention to detail.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Relevant food industry qualification and/or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Deliver customer-focused and commercially successful NPD and EPD projects.
• Ensure all developments meet customer requirements, legal standards, allergen controls, sustainability goals, and welfare standards.
• Identify opportunities for product improvement that enhance customer satisfaction and business value.
• Support innovation sessions and customer presentations, bringing market trends and consumer insights to life.
• Become a subject matter expert within the product category.
• Lead projects through the Concept-to-Launch Gate Process, ensuring milestones are met and fully documented.
• Manage project critical paths and coordinate cross-functional teams to deliver successful product launches.
• Assess product feasibility and ensure all developments are technically and commercially viable.
• Build and maintain accurate recipe and costing data within internal systems.
• Support customer relationships by delivering projects on time and managing expectations effectively.
• In collaboration with operations, support with scale up processes and factory trials, ensuring that expectations on quality are clearly communicated and defined.
• Support during first production runs and post-launch reviews, ensuring expectations set during development and trials are achieved.
• Collaborate with commercial, procurement, operations, and technical teams to ensure alignment on project timelines
• Stay ahead of emerging food, consumer, and restaurant trends.
• Monitor competitor activity and identify new business opportunities.
• Support customer roadmaps and innovation strategies aligned to market trends and site capabilities.
• Bring passion, creativity, and food expertise into every project.
• Support with business updates, including weekly project status, sharing information required for board and exec meetings, when requested and for research, development and creation of quarterly trend reviews.

Skills

NPD

EPD

Project management

Stakeholder management

Analytical ability

Excel

Budgeting

Sourcing ingredients

Communication

HACCP understanding

Education

Food Science degree

Relevant food industry qualification

Tools

MS Office

PowerPoint

Job description

Place UK Ltd in Norwich is seeking a Senior NPD Technologist to own New Product Development (NPD) and Existing Product Development (EPD) projects from concept to launch. You will drive cross-functional collaboration with NPD, customer teams, site teams and commercial on feasible, commercially viable products and ensure compliance with legal standards, allergen controls and sustainability goals.

This role requires strong project management, technical excellence and the ability to turn market