NPD Manager

Just Food Recruitment, part of The JFR Group is recruiting for an NPD Manager to join this market-leading and innovative Food manufacturer based in Bedfordshire.

The main purpose of this role is the accountability for the delivery of the NPD pipeline from concept through to launch, supported through management of the NPD process. A customer-facing role accountable for the management of key customer accounts from an NPD perspective.

Key Accountabilities

• Accountable for the project management and delivery of key customer development projects to time, quality and agreed margin expectations
• Play a key role in the activation of the product strategy in our core areas of sweet, bread and savoury, based on insights from the category vision and in line with the commercial strategy
• Play a pivotal role working closely with the account manager, category managers and technical team on allocated accounts to deliver all customer objectives in full
• To keep abreast of innovative thinking in the industry via trade fairs, seminars, conferences, reports on the internet and trade publications, bakery tours and other networking to provide a continuous stream of inspirational thinking and innovative product and ideas to the business
• To manage, motivate and develop direct reports so that exceptional individual and team performance can be delivered, and true potential realised
• Ensure 'right first time' approach to trials and launches, with smooth handover of products to relevant internal cross-functional teams
• Work in conjunction with purchasing (where appropriate) to build and develop relationships with ingredient and packaging suppliers to source the best ingredients for each project and keep abreast of any new developments

If you are a self-starter with a drive and tenacity to keeping always pushing several projects through the business and have the confidence and vision to overcome obstacles along the way, then my client would like to speak to you.

Experience of NPD in a FMCG environment is essential for this position due to the demands of the clients that you would be working with.

If you would like to learn more about this role, please apply and one of our candidate managers will be in touch.

The JFR Group is an employment agency working on behalf of our client. Should you be seeking a new permanent position, temporary assignment, or contract you will find our staff professional and courteous and our interview process straightforward.