Derby | The Cuisine Centre | Part of Compass Group UK&I

Fixed Term Contract - 2 Years

Are you a passionate food innovator with experience developing chilled or frozen meal solutions? We're looking for an experienced NPD Manager to lead product development from concept through to launch, creating exceptional meals for customers across healthcare, education, senior living and workplace sectors.

This is a fantastic opportunity to take ownership of the full NPD process, lead a talented team, and bring commercially successful products to market within a fast-paced food manufacturing environment.

What You'll Be Doing

• Leading the end-to-end product development process from customer brief to factory launch.
• Managing and developing a team of technologists and chefs.
• Translating customer and market insights into innovative, commercially viable meal solutions.
• Driving recipe development, ingredient sourcing and product costings.
• Leading customer presentations, product tastings and internal reviews.
• Managing project timelines and critical paths to ensure successful delivery.
• Working closely with Process, Technical and Quality teams to support factory trials and product launches.
• Championing a strong foodie culture and keeping products ahead of market trends through benchmarking and innovation.

What We're Looking For

• Proven NPD management experience within chilled and/or frozen prepared meals, ready meals or sauces.
• Strong commercial awareness and experience developing products to meet financial targets.
• Excellent knowledge of nutrition, food manufacturing and food safety standards.
• Experience leading and developing high-performing teams.
• Strong project management, problem-solving and critical path management skills.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities.
• A genuine passion for food, ingredients and culinary innovation.

Desirable

• Degree or equivalent qualification in Food Science, Food Technology, Culinary Arts, Nutrition or a related discipline.

About Us

As part of Compass you'll help to feed people, fuel progress and forge connections in around 6,000 venues. Join us to grow your career with the industry leader, and get competitive pay, great perks and unrivalled opportunities for learning and development, at one of the UK's biggest businesses.

Job Reference: com/0511/45299001/52844570/SU #CuisineCentre

Compass Group UK&I is committed to fostering an environment where every individual can truly be themselves at work and has equal opportunities to advance in their careers. We strive to build a culture that respects and celebrates the unique talents, beliefs, backgrounds, and abilities of all our team members. We want our colleagues to feel valued, empowered to reach their full potential, and to thrive - because diversity is our strength!