NPD Manager - Food & FMCG

About the role

A major FMCG business, which delivers short-shelf-life products to major retailers from its purpose-built manufacturing headquarters near Bankstown, is seeking a Product Development Lead (NPD Manager) reporting to the new Head of Marketing & Brand. The role leads a team of 2 and manages the end-to-end NPD programme for major retailers.

Key responsibilities

• Own the innovation pipeline, turn market, customer and category insights into product concepts, and present business cases to senior leadership
• Lead NPD from concept to commercial launch, managing timelines, resources and budgets
• Run stage-gate processes, manage workloads and development risks within the team
• Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to deliver manufacturing-ready products, and lead trials, first production runs and post-launch reviews
• Oversee formulation, specifications, approvals and technical documentation, ensuring food safety, quality, regulatory, nutritional, allergen and labelling compliance
• Build relationships with customers, suppliers and internal teams, and lead customer development projects and technical presentations
• Lead, coach and develop the Product Development team, and continuously improve NPD processes, systems and governance
• Identify ways to reduce cost and waste while improving sustainability

Required profile

• NPD leader or senior technologist with deep experience in a Food/FMCG manufacturing environment, handling end-to-end development and customer interface
• Proven track record of working closely with major retailers and evidence of numerous product releases
• Highly refined understanding of HACCP, FSANZ and SQF, and polished stakeholder engagement skills
• Passion for product excellence and team development