Protea Recruitment Ltd | Food | Drinks | FMCG Recruitment Partner
New Product Development Manager - Protein
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Role Profile: Divisional Product Development Manager
Role Title: Divisional Product Development Manager (Protein Business Unit)
Location: Saudi Arabia (Not UK)
Role Purpose:
This role leads the end-to-end development of new products and the enhancement of existing lines within the protein category. The position is responsible for driving innovation, ensuring technical excellence, and delivering commercially successful products that meet the highest standards of quality, safety, and consumer satisfaction. The Divisional Product Development Manager plays a key role in shaping the product portfolio, identifying new opportunities, and supporting strategic growth plans across the business.
The Role:
- Lead the full product development lifecycle from concept creation through to commercialisation.
- Develop innovative formulations and explore new ingredients, technologies, and processing methods.
- Ensure all products meet internal quality, safety, regulatory, and performance standards.
- Collaborate closely with Manufacturing, Quality, Engineering, Supply Planning, Sales, Marketing, and other cross-functional teams to bring new concepts to market efficiently.
- Conduct scientific research, data analysis, and technical problem-solving to support product improvements and new launches.
- Oversee trials, pilot runs, and factory validations to ensure smooth scale-up and production readiness.
- Monitor industry trends, consumer insights, and competitive activity to identify new product opportunities.
- Provide technical leadership across multiple product categories and complex production environments.
- Ensure compliance with relevant food industry regulations and quality systems.
- Support continuous improvement initiatives to optimise processes, enhance product performance, and reduce costs.
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Qualifications & Experience:
- Degree in Food Science or similar.
- Additional certifications in HACCP or quality systems are advantageous.
- Minimum of 10 years progressive experience in product development within the protein industry.
- Strong mastery of protein science, processing, marination, ingredient functionality, and added-value meat product formulation.
- Proven experience launching new protein products and successfully bringing concepts to market.
- Technical proficiency across multiple product categories and high-complexity production environments.
- Demonstrated ability to apply scientific research principles, conduct data analysis, and solve technical challenges.
- Familiarity with food industry regulations and compliance requirements.
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Candidate Profile:
- The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker with deep technical expertise in protein product development.
- They thrive in fast-paced manufacturing environments, excel at cross-functional collaboration, and bring a strong track record of delivering innovative, commercially successful products.
- They are passionate about quality, process optimisation, and driving initiatives that support long-term business growth.
- This role is part of a major expansion within the protein business unit.
- Candidates should be comfortable working in a large-scale, multinational environment.
- Strong leadership, communication, and project management skills are essential.
Note: Due to the location of the role and the talent pool I am looking to attract, I have had to advertise the role in the UK, however it is based in Saudi Arabia.
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