Lead Product Developer

Job description

Lavazza Professional is the Business-to-business (B2B) arm of Lavazza Group; as a brand we have grown over the last 120 years from a small Italian artisanal company to an industrial giant. We remain family owned and our passion for quality coffee is coupled with a spirit of entrepreneurship, defined by innovation and a sense of responsibility.

At Lavazza Professional, our goal is to fuel workplace productivity and wellness. We bring high performance vending technologies to offices and factory floors across the UK, partnering with some of the nation’s best loved drinks brands.

As a company, we are proud to announce our “Roadmap to Zero”, our aim is to completely neutralise the Group’s carbon footprint by the end of 2030. With an investment of about €50million in the 2020-2023 period, you can be proud to join a company dedicated to sustainability, innovation, and employee development.

Interest Me

We are hiring a Lead Product Developer to shape the end to end, concept to launch development of hot and cold drinks products for our workplace vending machines, spanning teas and coffees, chocolates, soups and other specialist brews.

With robust technical ingredients knowledge, you’ll lead cross functional teams to manage change and product launches.

Customer focus is key; you’ll leverage customer and consumer insight to identify and develop the right drinks portfolio for our European customers, adopting a holistic, systems based approach to consider the impact and opportunities for new ingredients.

An established professional, you’ll provide coaching and support to the ingredients team, leading best practices within new product development and innovation.

You’ll ensure the performance and quality of product, taking into account not only the recipe and taste, but also the behaviour of the ingredients during service and delivery through the machine to the consumer.

You will be responsible for:

· Leading a portfolio of complex NPD and innovation projects

· Understanding customer and consumer insights and translating into safe, legal and repeatable specifications

· Ensure delivery of the R&D plan to agreed timings, budget and quality standards

· Forging strong and effective relationships with a network of technical and non-technical stakeholders, both internally and with suppliers.

Understand Me

The successful candidate will:

· Be degree educated, likely in a food sciences or food technology discipline

· Have strong working knowledge of food product development, NPD process, manufacturing and quality assurance principles

· Demonstrate experience of leading and delivering large technical work programmes with a cross functional team

· Be an experienced relationship manager with strong supplier relationship credentials

· Show technical understanding of powder manufacturing processes

You must be willing to travel in the UK and across Europe.

Reward Me

· Competitive Salary up to £55k plus performance and profit related bonus scheme

· 25 days holiday plus eight statutory bank holiday

· Pension Scheme

· Private Health Care

· Complimentary fruit on site

· On site gym

· Free parking

· Employee social events such as Summer BBQ’s, Easter Hunt etc

· Plus a range of health and well-being benefits

Benefits:

• On-site parking
• Wellness programs
• Private medical/dental insurance
• Company pension
• Free fruit
• Free hot and cold drinks All Day
• Additional leave
• Casual dress
• Company pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Free parking
• Health & wellbeing programme
• Life insurance
• On-site gym
• On-site parking
• Private dental insurance
• Private medical insurance
• Sick pay

Please only apply if you are based in the UK due to the recruitment and interview process, all successful candidates will be subject to reference checks and possible DBS clearance.