NPD Technologist
On A Roll Sandwich Company Ltd · Belasis Hall Technology Park, Billingham
Our estimate of how close this job is to decisions about what protein a business sources, specifies, buys and serves. How we score
Why this role matters
How close this job is to real sourcing and menu decisions.
Sandwich fillings are where a huge amount of meat, dairy and egg gets specified at volume, and this role sits right inside that process: liaising with suppliers on new raw materials, helping write ingredient specifications, and running the trials that decide what actually goes into a product launch. At this level you won't set policy, but you will learn exactly how a raw-material spec gets written and signed off, knowledge that becomes powerful once you're the one holding the pen. Food manufacturing NPD is one of the more realistic entry points into technical and supplier-facing food roles, and a few years here, learning BRC and HACCP practice and how specifications are built, sets up a move into roles where you do control what is specified and who supplies it, with real consequences for sourcing standards, supply chain resilience and what ends up in people's food.
Where this role can take you
What this job teaches you, and the jobs it can lead to.
What you'd build
- New product development process
- Recipe and ingredient specification writing
- Supplier liaison on raw materials
- BRC and HACCP compliance practice
- Sensory evaluation and taste panel testing
Where it can lead
- Product Development Manager
- NPD Manager
- Technical Manager
These roles typically hold sign-off on recipe specifications and raw-material sourcing decisions, including whether higher-welfare or alternative-protein ingredients make it into a product.
About the role
On A Roll Sandwich Company is hiring a full-time Product Development Technologist to assist the Product Development Manager across new and existing development projects. The role covers recipe development using recipe sheets and sample materials, sending finished samples to customers, and running taste panel testing trials for existing and new products. It involves liaising with suppliers to source new raw materials, managing costings, and keeping ingredient specification administration up to date, as well as providing customer-requested samples with supporting paperwork including preliminary specification details. The postholder communicates across departments to meet project objectives, follows all BRC and HACCP requirements during NPD work, organises and implements factory trials, and reports trial outcomes (new products, raw materials, packaging or processes) to relevant teams. Documentation duties include trial documents, sensory evaluation, shelf-life review and recipe mix sheets, and the role also supports the Technical team with product specifications. Candidates should have studied a food-related course at college or university degree level, show creative flair and passion for food development, have excellent interpersonal and communication skills with strong attention to detail, and good working knowledge of Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word. Kitchen experience is desirable, and a full UK driving licence is required. This is a permanent, on-site contract based in High Clarence, Middlesbrough, suited to someone early in their food industry career or recently graduated. Benefits include a canteen, discounted or free food, and on-site parking.
This is an extract. Read the full advert on the employer's site.
Key terms to include in your CV and cover letter
What this employer is asking for, in their words. Applications are often screened by software looking for exact phrases, so if these describe your experience, use their wording.
- new product development
- recipe development
- sensory evaluation
- taste panel testing
- ingredient specifications
- supplier liaison
- raw material sourcing
- BRC
- HACCP
- shelf-life review
- product specifications
- factory trials
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- food science or food-related degree
How to position yourself
The language that works with hiring managers for this kind of job.
Frame your interest around food safety, quality consistency and supply chain reliability - NPD teams value people who can balance creative recipe work with rigorous documentation and compliance. Mentioning any exposure to BRC or HACCP standards, or experience ensuring ingredient specifications are accurate, will land well given this role explicitly requires following those standards.
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