Senior NPD Technologist

Paragon Talent is partnering with a highly respected, niche B2B food manufacturer to appoint a Senior NPD Technologist into a genuinely rare role.

This is a business with exceptionally low staff turnover, a strong reputation across the UK food manufacturing sector, and a culture built on common sense, trust, and people working together in the same direction. They operate in the sweet space, fruit preparations, confectionery and sauce systems, supplying major bakery, dairy and ice cream manufacturers with bespoke, high-quality solutions.

The role exists to strengthen and future-proof the NPD function. You’ll join a small, experienced development team and take on meaningful responsibility from day one, with clear scope to become a long-term cornerstone of the business.

If you’re looking for a role where you can truly own projects end-to-end, get stuck in technically, and be valued for your contribution rather than your job title, this is that role.

What’s in It for You

• A stable, long-term opportunity in a business where people stay for years
• High autonomy and genuine ownership of NPD projects
• Hands-on development work, from kitchen to factory scale
• Exposure to a wide variety of customers and applications (bakery, dairy, ice cream, desserts)
• Clear succession and progression to leadership of the NPD team
• A down-to-earth, no-ego culture where attitude matters as much as technical skill
• A brand-new state-of-the-art facility, opening in Ashford this summer

What You’ll Be Doing

This is a broad, practical Senior NPD role covering concept, development, scale-up and launch.

You’ll:

• Lead the development of fruit preparations, liquid caramels and sauce systems (including low Aw products)
• Translate kitchen concepts into scalable, repeatable factory processes
• Plan and support factory trials, capturing data and driving continuous improvement
• Own projects through the full stage-gate process, from brief to launch
• Develop high-quality kitchen samples in response to customer briefs and proactive innovation
• Work closely with production, technical and commercial teams to ensure feasibility and delivery
• Act as technical lead for selected customer projects, supporting trials and discussions
• Contribute to innovation, process improvement and best practice sharing within the team

This is a hands-on role; you’ll be as comfortable in the kitchen and factory as you are in project discussions.

What We’re Looking For

We’re far more interested in attitude, curiosity and fit than a perfect product background.

• 3–5+ years’ experience in food manufacturing or NPD
• Experience working with sauces, fruit-based systems, confectionery or similar cooked products is a clear advantage, but not essential
• Strong practical understanding of scaling products from kitchen to factory
• Comfortable managing multiple projects at once
• A collaborative, team-first mindset
• Someone who enjoys getting stuck in and taking responsibility