NPD Manager

Come help us Nourish the Nation! Are you an experienced NPD Manager within Food Manufacturing?

If so, we would love to hear from you!

You will be working at our bright and modern Head office on the Chichester Food Park in beautiful West Sussex.

There is flexibility to work from home every week around work schedules. Some of our NPD Managers stay overnight for a few nights during the week and some have relocated to the area. We offer support with costs either way.

We are one of the largest employers in the Chichester area, with 4 sites employing more than 1,200 talented individuals and we are growing!

With ambitious growth plans and some exciting projects up our sleeves, it's an exciting time to join us, make an impact and be a proud part of our onward journey.

Our employees say it's our people that make NWF a brilliant place to work, come and find out for yourself!

A day in the life of an NPD Manager:

We make delicious salad meals, coleslaw, potato salad, bagged salads and leafy salad bowls. Our products are stocked by leading Retail supermarkets & restaurant chains and consumed by millions of customers in the UK, so you may well have eaten something made by us!

In this role you will be developing food for a top Retailer.

• Work with the Category team to identify tactical opportunities with strategic long term views, converting insights into commercially viable products and solutions within defined time horizons
• To project manage NPD/EPD through the NWF gated Development Process
• Manage key stakeholders' involvement within the gated process and appropriate accountability and responsibilities within the process
• Ensure timelines are relevant, accurate and well communicated to the business
• Drive and deliver a rolling Development agenda / plan for the Customer, working in conjunction with Sales & Category
• Drive the project delivery for customer launches, ensuring products are launched on time and in conjunction with the Customer Team
• Product sampling coordination with the customer throughout the process
• Line management of Product Developer &/or Junior Product Developer

Key accountabilities:

• Ensure all product launches are delivered to the Customer on time, meeting customer expectation of the consumer proposition and cost whilst ensuring we achieve the NWF required margin
• Complete all Project files and hand over to Factory Technical ready for launch
• Develop consumer focussed products that deliver a great consumer experience
• Ownership of the customer launch critical path
• Owning the NPD customer agenda, decision makers and 'go to' point of contact for the customer

We are always looking for top talent. If you meet the brief then that's great, if you think you might have a few gaps in experience though we would still like to have a chat.

Hours: 8.30am - 5.30pm Monday - Friday - 1 hour lunch.

This is a permanent role.

About you:

• Passionate and inquisitive about all things food
• Demonstrable skills in leading New Product Development within Food
• Proven negotiation and influencing skills
• Project Management ability
• Knowledge of the retail landscape, the retailer's processes and experience working with them directly
• Has a good knowledge of Food Manufacturing and Operations
• Has a good knowledge of Financials relating to Food Cost and Yields
• Can lead a working team well with confidence

Your journey with us…

You'll be spoilt for choice with future career development opportunities at Natures Way Foods. If you're interested in becoming an expert in your field or maybe an upwards or sideways move is part of your career plan, we want to help make your career ambitions a reality.

Perks:

• Competitive salary.
• Car allowance.
• Accommodation allowance (if working away from home)
• Annual company performance bonus.
• Relocation packages available.
• Laptop and mobile phone.
• Company pension.
• 25 days holiday + 8 days bank holiday.
• Discounted gym membership.
• 1 day company paid volunteering day.
• We have Mental Health Advocates and a well established wellbeing programme.
• Healthshield Perks healthcare package.
• Life Assurance policy.
• Plenty of development and training opportunities.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Exclusive online benefits and discounts.
• Business casual dress down policy.
• Free parking available across all sites.

About us:

We are Lovers of the Leaf, Kings of Coleslaw and proud of our Stunning Salad Meals!

As a private label and branded food manufacturer, our customers are at the heart of what we do. Our products are sold in Retailers (including - Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Aldi) and Foodservice businesses (including McDonald's, Pret and Itsu).

Our manufacturing sites are centres of excellence and have grown significantly since 1994. 2020 saw the launch of our very first brand, a saucy salad meal kit called FLiNG and we have plenty of exciting projects still to come so watch this space!

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