Senior Product Development Manager (NPD)

Location: South London (4 days on-site, 1 day WFH)

Salary: £60,000 – £65,000 + discretionary bonus

Contract: Permanent

The Opportunity

A well-established and growing food manufacturing business is seeking a Senior Product Development Manager to lead its NPD function during an exciting phase of expansion.

With ambitious plans to significantly scale over the next five years, the business is looking for a high-performing, motivated individual to take ownership of an already well-established product development function and drive it forward.

This is a key leadership role, offering the opportunity to shape strategy, influence customers, and play a central part in delivering innovative, market-leading food-to-go products.

The Role

Reporting into senior leadership, you will lead the NPD function and manage a small team, working closely with both the chef function and wider operational teams.

You will take full ownership of the product development critical path, ensuring projects are delivered efficiently from concept through to launch. Acting as the central point of contact across internal departments and external customers, you will ensure alignment, quality, and commercial success across all product initiatives.

This role requires a strong understanding of food manufacturing processes, excellent project management capability, and the ability to operate in a fast-paced, customer-facing environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the NPD function, managing a small team and driving performance
• Own and continuously improve the end-to-end product development critical path
• Manage multiple product development projects simultaneously, ensuring delivery to deadline
• Act as the key interface between internal teams (including chefs and operations) and external customers
• Translate customer briefs into commercially viable, high-quality products
• Ensure strong cross-functional collaboration across development, production, and technical teams
• Maintain a deep understanding of market trends, particularly within food-to-go
• Conduct benchmarking and gap analysis to ensure products remain competitive
• Build strong, credible relationships with customers and stakeholders

About You

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in an NPD Manager or Senior NPD role within food manufacturing (Ideally Chilled or Food to Go)
• Strong understanding of food manufacturing processes (essential)
• Experience managing projects end-to-end across the full product lifecycle
• Proven team management or leadership experience
• Strong customer-facing experience with the ability to build and maintain relationships
• Background in food categories such as food-to-go or chilled products (highly desirable)
• Experience working within fast-paced, high-volume production environments
• Highly organised, process-driven, and commercially aware
• Confident communicator with the ability to influence at all levels

What’s On Offer

• Salary of £60,000 – £65,000 depending on experience
• Discretionary company bonus
• Hybrid working (4 days on-site, 1 day from home)
• Opportunity to lead and evolve a well-established NPD function
• Key role within a business with strong growth ambitions
• Collaborative and high-performing working environment