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Head of NPD
Job Posted: 8 minutes ago
Salary: £ 65,000 - 65,000 / Annum
Job Type: Permanent
Location: Watford, Hertfordshire
Expire in: a month
Job Description
The Opportunity
We’re partnering with a dynamic, high-street bakery brand undergoing rapid expansion, with over 100 UK sites and strong momentum across retail, delivery, and food-to-go. Known for their fresh, affordable, and crowd-pleasing bakes, this business has become a staple in communities across the South East — and they’re just getting started.
To support continued growth, they’re now hiring a Head of New Product Development to lead innovation across their bakery portfolio. This is a pivotal, high-visibility role with huge potential to make a mark in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment.
The Role
As Head of NPD, you’ll own the end-to-end innovation process — from concept through to launch — across sweet and savoury bakery products. Working cross-functionally with production, operations, and marketing, you’ll shape an NPD pipeline that delights customers and drives commercial performance.
Key Responsibilities
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Lead the full NPD and EPD process, managing concept creation, trials, testing, and store rollout
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Develop a commercially driven innovation calendar aligned to seasonal opportunities and customer trends
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Collaborate closely with the in-house bakery, supply chain, and operational teams to ensure scalability and consistency
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Use insight and market trends to develop forward-thinking, customer-led products
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Manage and mentor a small team of product developers and bakery specialists
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Act as the business lead for product quality, innovation strategy, and continuous improvement
What We’re Looking For
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Proven success in a senior NPD role within food-to-go products, or bakery manufacturing
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Strong understanding of bakery processes, ingredients, and production environments
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A creative but pragmatic approach — able to balance innovation with operational feasibility
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Commercially savvy — understands margin, costings, and customer appeal
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Excellent stakeholder and project management skills
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Passionate about bakery, food trends, and delivering products people love
Why Apply?
This is a chance to join a much-loved challenger brand with ambitious growth plans, a loyal customer base, and the freedom to think creatively. You’ll lead the NPD strategy at group level, have ownership of the innovation agenda, and help shape the future of one of the UK’s most exciting bakery businesses.
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