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Senior NPD Technologist
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Senior NPD Technologist
Food Manufacturing
Location: Greater Manchester
Salary: £35,000 - £42,000
Getting a recipe right in the kitchen is one thing. Getting it right at scale, on a live production line, is where NPD gets interesting.
This is an opportunity to take genuine ownership of that journey.
- You'll manage food development projects from concept through to factory launch, taking customer-approved recipes and turning them into products that can be manufactured safely, consistently, and commercially.
- It's a hands-on role. One day you could be coordinating a factory trial, the next working through a critical path, solving a technical challenge with Operations or Engineering, or sitting with a customer discussing their latest development.
- You'll own projects through the Stage & Gate process, coordinating trials, first production runs, and post-launch reviews while making sure the technical detail behind every product is robust.
- That means understanding more than just the recipe. Cooking and cooling validations, HACCP, microbiological standards, nutritional requirements, labelling, packaging, and specifications all form part of getting a product successfully over the line. You'll need to balance what the customer wants with what can actually be delivered in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
- You'll also have the opportunity to lead and develop a small team, while working closely with Technical, Operations, Engineering, and the wider NPD function.
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Requirements
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- Previous NPD experience within food manufacturing and a track record of taking products from development into production.
- A Food Science degree or equivalent would be ideal, alongside a good understanding of BRC, HACCP, and retailer/customer standards.
- Ability to enjoy being close to the factory, juggle multiple projects, and not be fazed when a trial doesn't quite go to plan first time.
If you're ready to take more ownership of the development process and want a role where you can see your work go from kitchen bench to full-scale production, let's have a confidential conversation.
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