Head of Development

The Company

A leading international food manufacturer is seeking a senior leader to drive innovation and excellence within its development function. The organisation delivers high-quality food solutions across industry, retail, and food service, with a strong commitment to modern technologies, sensory performance, and continuous improvement. The Development Team plays a central role in shaping future product ranges across multiple formats and global markets.

The Role

We are looking for an experienced and strategic Head of Development Team to lead a high-performing product development function. This role combines team leadership, hands-on formulation expertise, and close collaboration with QA, Production, Procurement, and Commercial teams. You will drive new product development, optimise processes, and oversee the delivery of high-quality recipes across powdered, liquid, and paste formats—from concept through to scale-up and full production.

This is a full-time, on-site leadership position.

Key Accountabilities

• Lead and manage the development team both technically and disciplinarily.
• Advance product development processes strategically, incorporating new technologies and market trends.
• Develop and optimise recipes (powdered, liquid, paste) for customers in industry, retail, and food service.
• Plan and execute development trials, sensory evaluations, and cost-effectiveness analyses.
• Assess and introduce new raw materials, including technical and commercial evaluation.
• Organise tastings and ensure sensory and quality standards are met.
• Oversee upscaling to production lines and transfer products into manufacturing.
• Manage master data (raw materials, articles) and maintain recipes and specifications.
• Collaborate with QA, Production, and Purchasing during audits and process improvements.

Person Profile

• Degree in Food Technology, Chemistry, or a comparable field
• Several years of proven leadership experience in an R&D or product development environment.
• Expertise in developing and optimising powdered, liquid, and paste products.
• Proficient with ERP/PLM systems and confident in specification and master data management.
• Excellent understanding of food law and quality assurance.
• International market experience, ideally within food service, retail, or the meat industry.
• Strong background in sensory evaluation, tastings, and raw material assessment, including economic analyses.
• Strong communicator and team-oriented, with experience working cross-functionally.
• Business-fluent in English (spoken and written).

REF: PR/013201

Due to a high volume of responses, we cannot reply to each application individually. If you have not had a response within one week, we are sorry to say your application has not been successful on this occasion.