Senior NPD - Products

Position: Senior NPD - New Products
Location: Tulbagh

Our client in the Tulbagh area is looking for a Senior New Product Developer (New Products) to translate market trends, customer expectations, and business objectives into commercially viable, manufacturable, and compliant new products - taking concepts from formulation through trials, scale-up, and launch, while balancing creative product development with cost efficiency and full food safety and regulatory compliance in a fast-paced FMCG production environment

Minimum Requirements:

Degree in Food Science, Chemistry, or a related field

Minimum 3-5 years' experience in New Product Development within the FMCG manufacturing industry

Strong understanding of FMCG production processes and quality standards

Knowledge of food safety systems such as HACCP, GMP, and ISO standards

Experience with product trials, formulation, and factory implementation processes

Excellent project management and organisational skills

Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication abilities

Computer literacy in MS Office (Excel) and product development systems

Experience in food and beverage FMCG products (advantageous)

Knowledge of retailer requirements and product compliance standards (advantageous)

Experience working in high-volume manufacturing environments (advantageous)

Duties and Responsibilities:

New Product Development & Innovation

• Translate customer and market briefs into commercially viable new product formulations and prototypes
• Conduct product trials, testing, and evaluations to ensure product quality, functionality, and manufacturability
• Formulate new products while maintaining cost efficiency and quality standards form the concept stage
• Research and develop new product concepts in line with market trends and customer requirements

Technical Documentation & Raw Materials

• Conduct shelf-life studies, sensory evaluations, and stability testing where applicable
• Support factory implementation of new products, including line trials and scale-up from lab to full production
• Prepare product specifications, technical documentation, and production instructions for new products
• Source and evaluate raw materials and ingredients for new product development

Compliance, Quality & Food Safety

• Partner with Quality Assurance on specification sign-off, validation trials, and product safety assurance prior to launch
• Work within HACCP, GMP, and ISO food safety systems across all new product development activity
• Ensure all new products comply with food safety regulations, quality standards, and legal labelling requirements

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Market Insight

• Work closely with Production, Procurement, Quality Assurance, Marketing, and Sales teams during product development and launch phases
• Support retailer requirements and product compliance standards for new product listings
• Monitor market trends, competitor products, and consumer insights to identify innovation opportunities

Project & Timeline Management

• Manage new product development timelines and ensure projects are completed within deadlines
• Maintain accurate project documentation and report pipeline progress to the HOD Research and Development

Key Performance Areas

• Quality and completeness of product specifications and technical documentation for new products
• Compliance pass rate on new product specifications, labelling, and food safety requirements
• New product margin performance against concept-stage costing
• Product trial success rate and first-time-right handover to Production
• Speed-to-market (concept-to-shelf cycle time) on assigned projects
• Number and value of successful new product launches against annual plan

PLEASE NOTE:
Thank you for your interest in this position, we will review and be in touch if you are suitable.

Due to the amount of applications we receive for each position, we are unable to respond to each one individually. Please accept your application as unsuccessful if you had no feedback within 7 days of applying. Your CV will remain on our database and we will be in touch for other suitable positions.


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