NPD Technologist
Food Manufacturing
Bristol
£28-36K DOE
My client, an award-winning and successful company, is looking to recruit a NPD Technologist / New Product Technologist / Product Development Technologist for their modern food innovation centre based in Bristol. This family business has more than 30 years of award-winning experience in creating, rolling out, and managing bespoke customer food-on-the-move solutions to blue-chip and smaller food companies.
Responsibilities:
- Driving development of quality and safe products from blue sky to launch, considering specific product parameters and customer requirements.
- Ensuring ingredient/product information is accurate, up-to-date, and consistent in the NPD system.
- Understanding project critical paths and implications of deviations.
- Building relationships with manufacturers, understanding capabilities, and spending time on-site with their development teams to create exciting products efficiently, following the products through to launch and beyond.
- Coordinating sample requests, overseeing product processes, and conducting organoleptic and shelf-life evaluations across product ranges and applications, including sign-off with the Food Safety Team.
- Generating product labeling in compliance with relevant legislation, proofreading from design to printing.
- Liaising and communicating with internal and external stakeholders throughout the launch process.
- Supporting continuous improvement by identifying innovative ideas and ingredient opportunities that maximize cost savings and enhance business efficiency.
- Generating internal project documentation during the development process, such as product information sheets, product labeling sheets, trial forms, and post-launch reviews.
- Generating external project documentation with relevant stakeholders throughout the development process, using different media types, including shelf edge labels, allergen matrices, manuals, and QAS documents.
- Attending factory trials and product launches at various locations across the UK and Ireland, minimizing food waste from trials and capturing data while in attendance.
- Assisting in sending samples for customer requests, photography, or external events.
- Being active in hosting customer visits, setting up product displays, and other supporting actions.
- Investigating new food trends and competitor activity from local to global levels and feeding back to the central team to share knowledge.
- Taking positive steps to engage in discussions, opportunities, and actions to minimize environmental impacts internally and externally for the benefit of all.
Qualifications:- NPD, New Product Development experience in a Food/Drink manufacturing environment.
- Computer literate, particularly in Excel.
- Excellent organizational skills and a natural can-do attitude.
- Relishes working in a fast-paced environment in a hands-on capacity, independently and as part of a team.
- Can quickly grasp and adapt to new software with ease.
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
- A valid UK driving license is essential if required to drive to suppliers/clients or between offices.
- A strong interest in food outside of work and awareness of market trends.
Key Words: Innovation, NPD Technologist, NPD Development, Graduate NPD
This role is commutable from Taunton, Bridgwater, Bristol, Weston Super Mare, Gloucester, Cardiff, Wales, Newport, Chippenham, Bath, and Bristol.