Senior Food Technologist

Scientific & Technical Recruitment; Auckland; On-site; NZD 111,000 - 166,000; Full time

Job summary

Scientific & Technical Recruitment is seeking an experienced Food Technologist or Product Development specialist to lead a focused shelf-life and packaging project for fresh foods in New Zealand. You will work across product development, quality, operations, suppliers and commercial teams to extend product shelf life and improve packaging while ensuring trials, validation and implementation are completed.

The role suits a hands-on food technologist or an independent consultant with relevant

Qualifications

• Experience in food technology and product development within fresh or chilled foods.
• Experience with shelf-life extension for short shelf-life products like sandwiches, salads, ready meals.

Responsibilities

• Review existing products, recipes, ingredients, processes, cold chain and shelf-life performance.
• Identify opportunities to safely extend shelf life and develop product, process and packaging trials.
• Coordinate microbiological, sensory, quality, pack-integrity and transport validation.
• Investigate sustainable packaging options and work with suppliers on new technologies and solutions.
• Analyse results, recommend commercially practical solutions and support implementation.

Skills

Food technology

NPD

Product development

Job description

Use your fresh food development expertise to lead an exciting shelf-life and packaging project.

28th August, 2026

We are working with an established New Zealand food business looking for an experienced Food Technologist or Product Development specialist to lead a focused retail improvement project.

This is a hands-on role ideally suited to someone who understands the particular challenges of short shelf-life, fresh food products such as sandwiches, salads, ready meals and other chilled ready-to-eat foods.

The project will focus on extending product shelf life, improving packaging and identifying practical opportunities to make the retail range more competitive.

You will work across product development, quality, operations, suppliers and commercial teams to take ideas from initial investigation through trials, validation and implementation.

This would suit an experienced food technologist looking for an interesting fixed-term project, or an independent consultant with relevant fresh food experience.

What you will do

• Review existing products, recipes, ingredients, processes, cold chain and shelf-life performance
• Identify opportunities to safely extend shelf life and develop product, process and packaging trials
• Coordinate microbiological, sensory, quality, pack-integrity and transport validation
• Investigate sustainable packaging options and work with suppliers on new technologies and solutions
• Analyse results, recommend commercially practical solutions and support implementation

What we are looking for

• Strong food technology, NPD or product development experience within fresh or chilled foods
• Experience with short shelf-life products such as sandwiches, salads, ready meals or similar
• Good understanding of shelf-life extension, microbiological and sensory validation
• Knowledge of food safety, product specifications and controlled product trials
• Packaging development or sustainable packaging experience would be highly regarded

What's in it for you

• Take ownership of a defined and commercially important food technology project
• Work across product development, shelf life, packaging, sustainability and innovation
• Make a tangible difference to an established fresh food retail portfolio
• Work closely with a broad range of technical, operational and commercial stakeholders
• Enjoy the variety and autonomy of a 3-4 month project assignment

To apply for this vacancy, you MUST be a New Zealand citizen, or resident, or have already secured the right to work in New Zealand and therefore hold a valid visa.