Senior Product Development Manager - 12 Month FTC

Want to help us bring happiness to the world? Want to join an ambitious and fast growing global biscuits and confectionery business investing heavily in iconic global brands, infrastructure and people? Then this is the place for you.
As proud bakers and chocolatiers and custodians of iconic global brands, we don’t compromise on the quality of ingredients in our products or on the people we hire. We are looking for entrepreneurial spirits who share our passion for bringing happiness to our consumers and who embody our Winning Traits.
To succeed at pladis you need to be

purpose-led ,

resilient

and

positive

to succeed here because we expect pace and

agility , we insist on

collaboration

and demand accountability. If that is your thing, then pladis offers global ambition, a clear Vision and roadmap for success, challenge, and unrivalled opportunities to learn and make an impact
Click “Apply” to get started.
Context

and role purpose

pladis

operates in highly competitive,

fast-moving

markets where it is essential to

maintain

and extend market share through profitable branded growth
.

Successful innovation through product development, continuous value improvement and consumer perceived quality superiority vs. the competition are critical
.

This is a

• critical
• role responsible for
• building opportunities to
• explore,
• develop
• and implement
• protocepts
• to prototypes to fit concepts that will drive brand strategies
• across multiple geographies .
• They will work closely with marketing teams to activate and bring to reality technical briefs.

They will support the Breakthrough Product Director in the

• delivery
• against
• an ambitious and transformational
• breakthrough product
• strategy
• that is
• aligned to the growth ambition and sustainability aspirations of the company.
• The role requires an individual
• who is competent and skilled
• at
• working across
• cultur es and functions

and collaborating to deliver with others
.

They need to be able to wo rk effectively with

both internal and

external partners to identify

appropriate opportunities

and drive development of innovative solutions, best practice

approaches

and

systems .

Key areas of focus for

this secondment

role will be:

Managing the development and

• the Global Savoury Expansion initiative – with an aim of
• growing the
• pladis
• portfolio in new and existing markets : working closely with both
• global commercial and regional R&D teams while employing strong technical project management

Leading initiatives to u

• nlocking future technologies by applying
• both
• strong
• product and process knowledge to build scale platforms
• for innovation . This will include
• prototyping,
• planning
• and executing
• trials
• in both pilot plants and production facilities ,
• identifying
• p rocess requirements
• Defining and delivering technical concepts into product development
• Developing solutions to technical hurdles

Providing a technical response

• to
• commercial brief s
• Owning and delivering bench samples and pilot / factory trials
• Managing trial budgets and project plans
• The ideal candidate will have excellent core technical skills,
• string understanding and experience in
• product development and managing such projects/programs,
• a
• good
• understanding of process /chemical engineering principles
• and be able to understand the needs of the business, our
• consumers
• and customers to drive an exciting p roduct
• agenda .
• You will be a self-starter,
• possess
• a drive for result s.
• pladis
• organization model is based on
• 8
• regions with full accountability of their own P&L

Global

UK & Ireland

Europe & Emerging Markets (EEM)

Turkey

, Central Asia (TRCA)

Middle East, North Africa (MENA)

North America (Nam)

Asia pacific (APAC)

Godiva (Global)

Global

R&D work

• s
• hand in hand on many initiatives
• with partners in the other functions (both globally and within regions)
• to create strong competitive advantages for
• pladis

including:

Product Innovation

Identification and

unlocking of future technologies

Portfolio transformation for Health and Happiness

Sustainability (i.e. environment-friendly initiatives)

Transformational

Productivity, through product reformulation

Specifically on

Breakthrough

product , we need to:

• Define and deliver a medium to long term roadmap and align an agenda to drive
• innovation ,
• sustainability
• and productivity – build the internal cross-functional
• expertise
• and relationships to deliver that agenda.
• Build strong collaborative relationships with Suppliers to capture the best practices on the market and
• monitor
• project implementation.
• Build strong collaborative relationships with
• regional
• teams to build opportunities which scale across multiple regions.

The position will report

to the Head of Innovation for the Savoury category
.

I t is expected that the incumbent will work very closely with their counterparts

across the Central Innovation &

T echnology team , as well as the Global commercial team

to effectively delivery the joint

growth and transformation

agenda and ensure balanced focus on deliverables.

Principle Accountabilities

• Manage and be accountable for all technical aspects of product design and deliver developments
• across all global regions/ market s as required by the project , meeting the quality, cost and timings encouraged .
• Collaborate with others to build and deliver
• appropriate solutions
• to defined technical hurdles.

Provide a technical response to the commercial brief
.

Input technical detail into Stage & Gate process then translate this into a Product Development Programme up to Development stage.

Identify

• technical hurdles, compile technical risk assessment and contingencies
• and
• p roject
• m anage
• project s including
• issues .

Ensure

• timely
• completion of project documentation ,
• monitor ing and
• acting upon it accordingly.
• Ensure technical gates are completed at each stage plus ensure the completion of ingredient specs, product specs, HARA, and product quality attributes delegating tasks to project team as
• appropriate .
• Overall responsibility for the development of bench samples, planning and running pilot plant and factory trials ( pladis
• and Suppliers), and presentation of samples to marketing and other stakeholders.
• Ensure that all work is carried out in a safe and hygienic manner, following factory or bakery GMPs.
• Regular review trial's budget for a project and the associated phased spend ensuring regular update of cost tracking spreadsheet and reviewing with line manager.
• Draw up product specs to final status ensuring effective handover of the development to the
• regional

Categories Product Development Teams

.

Contribution to regional

• pladis
• Innovation strategy through support of conceptualisation and proactive NPD.
• Manage,
• empower
• and mentor subordinates, so their personal and technical development needs are
• identified
• and acted upon .
• Be a role model for the team promoting
• high standards
• of work, and behaviours.
• Work with colleagues to ensure that product development facilities are
• maintained
• to a safe and hygienic standard and
• operate
• using lean principles. Drive for continuous improvement.
• Ensure that personal development plans are built, kept current and actioned as
• appropriate .
• Use breadth of experience to act as a technical mentor across the team to ensure mitigation of risk to execution of projects.
• Propose and manage resource requirements
• Have technical ownership for several products/brands

pladis is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to hiring a diverse workforce. All openings will be filled based on qualifications without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, age, religion or any other classification protected by law.
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