NPD Manager - beverages

The NPD Manager is responsible for the development of new beverages and improvements to existing lines. Working cross functionally with Marketing, Sales, Quality, Procurement and Production, to deliver projects to time, quality and cost.

Duties Cover 
•    To coordinate the NPD process from concept to launch 
•    To be responsible for the Development kitchen. managing kitchen concept work, and factory trials 
•    To work with marketing to develop project briefs for new and existing products
•    Develop formulas for new products or line extensions as well as reformulating existing ones.
•    Continually researching new ingredients, markets and technologies to develop or improve new product concepts.
•    Manage internal sensory evaluations to determine product acceptability, both new and existing.
•    To liaise with suppliers regarding new and existing ingredients to ensure they meet quality and taste parameters as well as the Customer and Company policies 
•    To support sales with presentations to key customers in support of existing and new business growth opportunities. 
•    To prepare product costings to ensure profitable products
•    To ensure products meet required Food Safety and Quality parameters
•    Collaborate with Technical and Operations to conduct line trials of new formulations to verify manufacturing feasibilities.
•    ·To provide support on ingredient / product / process issues on live products. Be the technical expert during commissioning of new formulas by applying key knowledge of ingredient functionalities, formulas, and processes, as well as troubleshooting skills to ensure successful scale-up.
•    To provide Marketing with support on ingredients, recipes and flavour matching.
•    Maintain records of documents during development process, including but are not limited to: lab notebooks, analytical/organoleptic and sensory test results, formulas, and specifications.
•    Manage key development timelines and critical milestones
Skills
Experience in Food/ Beverage Product Development and manufacturing
Strong Project Management and communications between NPD, Marketing, Procurement, Quality, Operations and Sales to maintain l cross functional teamworking and ensuring awareness of key project milestones.
Fluent with all MS Office software (Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
Preferred:
2+ years – Food/ beverage Development
Education
Minimum Required:
Bachelor's Degree in Food Science, Chemistry, or other science related field