Overview of role

You will play a key role in bringing innovative food products from concept to market, working closely with UK retailers, B2B and industrial customers to build strong relationships and deliver commercially competitive solutions. You will lead and support NPD projects end-to-end, conducting ingredient testing, factory trials, benchmarking and analysis to ensure products meet customer, legal and quality standards, while mitigating supply chain risk. Collaborating with cross-functional teams, suppliers and stakeholders, you will combine market insight, technical expertise and strong project management to drive innovation, enhance customer engagement and contribute to business growth, all while maintaining a hands-on presence in both the development kitchen and factory environment. 

Key Accountabilities

• Delivering the key NPD projects to agreed procedures, customer protocols and legal compliance.
• Improving customer engagement with Westmill via strong customer focused communication and project management.
• Collaborating closely with colleagues in packaging to deliver a total solution to the customer whether produced in house or via an external manufacturer.
• Producing detailed and effective handovers to Technical to facilitate the writing of Finished product specifications.
• Supporting the business with an extensive benchmarking programme to continually track the performance of our branded goods against the competitive set and providing detailed, fact-based reports offering suggestions/recommendations.
• Supporting the artwork sign off process to ensure packaging is legally compliant to latest legislation/guidance.
• Working closely with the procurement team to ensure risk is mitigated in the supply chain and quality is maintained through changes in harvests/cost out projects.
• Managing the NPD kitchen at Trafford in line with BRC and agreed allergen controls.
• Working closely with the Innovation team and Category insights to stay ahead of food and ingredient trends and considering how these offer future NPD for Westmill.  Able to create meaningful customer presentations using these insights to stimulate new business/customers.
• Comfortable in a factory setting to learn and understand the processes and support any optimisation of these via the NPD projects.  Ability to produce objective trial reports with analysis of data and recommendations for next steps/improvements.  
• Stay ahead through social media, trade press and other medias on restaurant trends, new dishes and worldwide cuisine influences.
• Strong project management skills with excellent time management, risk assessment and mitigation
• Strong influencing skills and appreciation of stakeholder management
• Able to build positive partnerships with key suppliers/equipment manufacturers or scientific bodies to enhance Westmill’s understanding and competitive advantage.
• Self-aware and conscious of others – willing to engage in personal development and grow as a line manager.
• Able to deputise for the Head of PD Role when required.
• Quality – Supporting sites to deliver expected Quality Improvement projects

The Right Person

You will be a passionate and commercially minded food professional, ideally with a background in food science, food technology or nutrition, or equivalent experience developed within an NPD environment. Experience working with UK retailers and delivering private label NPD projects would be advantageous. You bring a genuine love of food, a keen curiosity for trends and ingredients, and the ability to turn insight into successful, market-ready products. Highly organised and proactive, you can manage multiple projects at pace while maintaining accuracy and attention to detail. You communicate clearly and build strong, collaborative relationships with customers, colleagues and suppliers. Equally comfortable working hands-on in a kitchen or factory environment as you are analysing data, you combine technical understanding with strong stakeholder management and a drive to make things happen and deliver results.