NPD Technologist

Description:

Refresco, the world’s largest independent soft drinks manufacturer, is seeking an NPD Technologist based at our Kegworth Head Office. We are fast-paced, and hugely customer-driven, always looking to innovate, develop, and improve what we do, and this creates the opportunity for you to develop and grow your career with us. Our people are friendly, open, and approachable, hugely supportive, and we have undergone high growth and great change over the past 5 years and expect to again double in size over the next 5 years.

NPD Technologist  

Permanent

Monday – Thursday 8:30 am – 5 pm and Friday 8:30 am – 4 pm

Reward & Benefits:

Annual bonus
25 days annual leave + bank holidays
Purchase additional holidays 
Life assurance 
Employee referral scheme - earn a bonus for referring your friends or family
GroceryAid – a support service offering financial, legal, wellbeing and practical support, advice and counselling
Cheers – a benefits platform offering discounts, free perks, and well-being tools for all employees
Free onsite parking  What you’ll be doing as an NPD Technologist
Reporting to the NPD Product Manager, the NPD Technologist will develop NPD and EPD to deliver the budgets (volume, GM/L and EBITDA) for Refresco UK. Working as part of a team to deliver projects based on company priority, the NPD Technologist will have a specific focus on our Branded products.

Key responsibilities of the role:

Understand and apply the company’s procedure on product development.
Researching and developing commercially viable NPD to drive business
Improving the current range portfolio to deliver improved quality and/or profitability to deliver sustainable EPD.
Working on a variety of projects as designated by the NPD Product Manager,
Maintain a focus on our branded products working internally with the Brand Team to optimise our products for both finished products and raw materials.
Develop a clear understanding of the commercial aspects of NPD including recipe costs, production requirement and hurdle rates to help ensure that NPD delivers to expectations and needs.
Participate in and share competitor products and NPD launch reviews to ensure that the team have a clear view on market and product developments.
Ensure all samples products produced for assessment internally and externally are safe for consumption and made in a hygienic manner, in accordance with the companies guideline on GMP.
Raw material set-ups and ensuring they are utilised which are technically acceptable for current processes; are readily available; are cost effective; are authentic; are chemically/microbiologically safe and are sourced from acceptable suppliers.
Work with key internal personnel to ensure product launches are successful. Ensure that all key information is given to generate formulations, methods, data sheets and specifications.
Support where required with pre-production development trials if the product has special technical properties.
Organise necessary sensory evaluation panels to support product development and general issues of company quality assessment for the Technicians to complete.
Maintain and report current development systems, ensuring that the information is available and up to date at all times.
Support value engineering projects looking to achieve Company Objectives working with Value Engineering Technologist, Purchasing, the Factory and Suppliers to achieve this. Overseeing the implementation of current projects and advising on new opportunities.  

About you

Ideally, you will be an experienced NPD professional within the FMCG industry with the proven ability to develop and launch successful and safe products. Good time management skills to juggle simultaneous issues and priorities. Excellent communication, creative, and product-centric skills. A degree in a science/food qualification would be beneficial.  

About Refresco

Our drinks on every table. That's the Refresco vision. We’re a global business and currently produce 14 billion litres of soft drinks from 78 manufacturing plants in Europe, North America and we've just opened in Australia, and we’re only just getting started. We have grown from just 2 sites in 1999. Our Group Headquarters are based in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

We’re the proud owners of six drinks manufacturing sites within the UK. Our UK business provides a great place to work for over 1,800 employees, who produce private label soft drinks and fruit juices for all the leading UK supermarkets, plus some of the best-known UK drinks brands such as Monster Energy, Ocean Spray, and Innocent.

From the purchasing of the raw materials such as fruit juices and CO2, through to the finished product delivered to your table, we cover the full manufacturing cycle for our customers. And, whether it’s packed in cartons, bottles, or cans, we ensure that our products are made to the highest quality standards. 

Refresco believes that equal opportunity for all is fundamental to our company's values and all our applicants can expect fairness and transparency in our recruitment process.

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