NPD Manager
An NPD Manager working for an FMCG food or drinks manufacturer sits within the Innovation or New Product Development (NPD) team. They are responsible for creating new product lines which the business will then sell into grocer channels specific retailers. They may manufacture products for Top 4 Grocery accounts such as Tesco, Asda, Morrisons or Sainsbury's or premium retailers such as Waitrose and Marks & Spencer (M&S). Alternatively they may produce and launch product lines within the Convenience, Out of Home (OOH) or food service channels. They will be head office based but will spend a huge amount time on site at factories ensuring their branded or own label products are being produced to a high quality and managing factory trials. They will work closely with other internal functions such as Sales, Marketing, Category, Technical and Operations. A NPD Manager will report into a Head of NPD or Innovation Director and may have a NPD Technologist, Process Technologist and a Specifications Technologist reporting into them. They may also work across multiple sites and several customer accounts.
Salary wise the role generally pays between £40,000 to £60,000 depending on regional variance and level of experience.
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city on the south coast of England in the county of Devon. Plymouth developed as a shipping port and still heavily influences the local economy, with the addition of a lot of service based businesses. Plymouth is a hub for water sports.
