Senior Product Development Manager

Job Opportunity: Senior Product Development ManagerLocation: Manchester (M1)Salary: £65,000-£75,000 + BonusAbout All About Food:This is a great time to join All About Food. We are a rapidly growing FMCG business with a £100M+ turnover with high growth ambitions. With 25 years’ experience in licensing, we are the business that makes restaurant brands successful in retail. You may not have heard of us, but we are confident that you will know the brands we market in the UK & Ireland. Our portfolio of partnerships includes Nando's, Costa Coffee, PizzaExpress, Wagamama, Pret-a-Manger and others.At the heart of our business is a set of core values that underpins everything we do. We believe we succeed as a team, and strive to get better, be better and achieve more together every day. Our team know we are in it together, and it always feels like itPrimary Role:Own, manage relationships with Senior contacts within Brand Owners Food Teams to influence and deliver our innovation and renovation plans, using consultative selling approach, to deliver best quality and costsOwn and manage Brand Owner and Third party manufacturer relationships, influencing senior contacts within our 3PM to deliver best quality at the best cost, efficiently through the factoryOwn and lead the on-going renovation strategy to delivery improved competitiveness & profitability including design to value projectsDiagnose and minimise cost impacts of ingredients, semi-finished goods, inclusion level, standardisation, raw material consolidation and synergistic ingredients to identify cost saving opportunities, working with procurement to minimise cost inflation.Lead regular competitive benchmarking to understand competitor design to value changes.Troubleshoot and diagnose against product or packaging opportunities, building a plan with clear project aims and objectives to align with senior stakeholders .Influence 3rd party manufacturers and brand owners to make product changes, through the consultative selling approach.Own and lead food development process and food COGs optimisation projects from concept to launch, with 100% adherence to gate process, including:Clear and comprehensive manufacturer briefing including competitor benchmarkingDeveloping products to the expected standards and costs, including in person development days alongside Brand Owner Senior Food teamsApproving products through all stages of development to first productionEnsure successful Brand Owner Exec sign offEnsuring successful Trial productionEnsuring successful first ProductionEnsuring all products comply with the Brand License Agreement and the brand standardsOwn and lead the Food Development Process, ensuring adherence to the process and delivering process improvements where possible to deliver the Food agenda in the optimum timeframeOwn and lead food trend evaluation, identifying the “next big thing” across the range of categories, alongside brand and category teams to drive long term innovation pipelineLead innovation sessions with Brand Owners and ManufacturersEnsure All About Food are up to date on all food and packaging market trendsRequirementsExperience:10 years + food development experienceWorked in either or both Retail food development (for supermarket) or for a large manufacturerMust have ambient food experience, optional for chilled and frozenWhat We OfferWe recognise that great people make great businesses, and we are committed to rewarding our team with a competitive and meaningful benefits package which includes:Bonus Scheme25 Days Annual Leave + Bank HolidaysExtra Day Off for Your BirthdayOption to Buy 5 Extra Days’ HolidayPension Scheme matched up to 8%Death in Service (4x salary) & Critical Illness Cover (5x salary)Private Bupa Healthcare (covering existing medical conditions)VIP Access to Co-op Live EventsProduct Sample Scheme‘Surprise & Delight’ VIP Days (including Royal Ascot & Wimbledon)Paid SabbaticalCompany iPhone & Laptop