Product Development Scientist

Want to help us bring happiness to the world? Want to join an ambitious and fast growing global biscuits and confectionery business investing heavily in iconic global brands, infrastructure and people? Then this is the place for you.

As proud bakers and chocolatiers and custodians of iconic global brands, we don’t compromise on the quality of ingredients in our products or on the people we hire. We are looking for entrepreneurial spirits who share our passion for bringing happiness to our consumers and who embody our Winning Traits.

To succeed at pladis you need to be purpose-led, resilient and positive to succeed here because we expect pace and agility, we insist on collaboration and demand accountability. If that is your thing, then pladis offers global ambition, a clear Vision and roadmap for success, challenge, and unrivalled opportunities to learn and make an impact

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Context and role purpose

pladis operates in highly competitive, fast moving markets where it is essential to maintain and extend market share through profitable branded growth.  Successful innovation through product development, continuous value improvement and consumer perceived quality superiority vs. the competition are critical. 

This is an important role responsible for supporting in the development of protocepts to prototypes to fit with concepts that will drive brand strategies.  They will work with cross functional teams to bring to reality technical briefs.

They will support the Head of Innovation in the delivery of an ambitious and transformational breakthrough product strategy that is aligned to the growth ambition and sustainability aspirations of the company.

The role requires an individual who is competent and skilled at working across cultures and functions and collaborating to deliver with others.  They need to be able to work effectively with external partners to identify appropriate opportunities and drive development of innovative solutions, best practice approaches and systems.

Key areas of focus for the role will be on:

• Delivering technical concepts into product development. 
• Supporting in the development of solutions to technical hurdles
• Supporting in the provision of a technical response to the commercial brief
• Delivering bench samples and supporting in the running of pilot / factory trials
• Supporting in ensuring costs are managed in line with trial budgets and project plans

The ideal candidate will have solid core technical skills, and be able to understand the needs of the business, our consumers and customers to support the Senior Product Development Manager in creating and driving an exciting product agenda. 

Global R&D works hand in hand on many initiatives with partners in the other functions (both globally and within regions) to create strong competitive advantages for pladis including:

• Product Innovation
• Identification and unlocking of future technologies
• Portfolio transformation for Health and Happiness
• Sustainability (i.e. environment-friendly initiatives)
• Transformational Productivity, through product reformulation

Specifically on Breakthrough product, we need to:

• Define and deliver a medium to long term roadmap and align an agenda to drive innovation, sustainability and productivity – build the internal cross-functional expertise and relationships to deliver that agenda.
• Build strong collaborative relationships with Suppliers to capture the best practices on the market and monitor project implementation.
• Build strong collaborative relationships with regional teams to build opportunities which scale across multiple regions.

The position will report to the Head of Innovation for the Savoury category.  It is expected that the incumbent will work very closely with their counterparts across the Central Innovation & Technology team, as well as the Global commercial team to effectively delivery the joint growth and transformation agenda and ensure balanced focus on deliverables.

Principle Accountabilities

• Lead development of recipes according to technical briefs and in response to identified consumer needs
• Deliver against the technical aspects of product design, meeting the quality, cost and timings encouraged. 
• Build global technology platforms surrounding innovation opportunities
• Connect and consult with ingredient and equipment suppliers to propose materials/processes that deliver business benefits in line with project objectives.
• Apply robust scientific methodologies to develop research hypothesis and execute bench and pilot plant experiments/trials.
• Characterise ingredients and final products using a broad range of techniques, such as texture and rheology
• Analyse and interpret analytical data with full ability to implement results and provide next steps recommendations.
• Collaborate with others to build and deliver appropriate solutions to defined technical hurdles.
• Ensure timely completion of project documentation.
• Ensure technical gates are completed at each stage plus ensure the completion of ingredient specs, product specs, HARA, and product quality attributes delegating tasks to project team as appropriate.
• Developing bench samples , planning and participating in pilot plant and factory trials (pladis and Suppliers), and presentation of samples to marketing and other stakeholders.
• Ensure that all work is carried out in a safe and hygienic manner, following factory or bakery GMPs.
• Draw up product specs to final status ensuring effective handover of the development to the regional Categories Product Development Teams.
• Contribution to pladis Innovation strategy through support of conceptualisation and proactive NPD.
• Work with colleagues to ensure that product development facilities are maintained to a safe and hygienic standard and operate using lean principles. Drive for continuous improvement. 

pladis is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to hiring a diverse workforce. All openings will be filled based on qualifications without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, age, religion or any other classification protected by law.

We operate a strict Preferred Supplier List. If you are a recruitment agency and wish to submit candidate to be considered for this vacancy, you must have agreed to, and signed, our terms of business.
We will not accept CVs from any other sources other than those currently on our PSL. We will not pay a fee for any candidate that has not been represented by a provider on our PSL.