New Product Development Lead

About Kerry

Kerry is the world's leading taste and nutrition company for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. Every day we partner with customers to create healthier, tastier and more sustainable products that are consumed by billions of people across the world. Our vision is to be our customers' most valued partner, creating a world of sustainable nutrition. A career with Kerry offers you an opportunity to shape the future of food while providing you opportunities to explore and grow in a truly global environment.

About the role

We are looking for NPD Lead (Portadown) you will  be working  with R&D and Production Stream/Operation functions at site level, ensuring a standardised approach to New Product Introduction, Process Improvements and Profit Improvement Projects (PIPs)

To carry out factory trials that are planned, organised and executed using a standardised approach whilst also ensuring that outcomes are effectively captured and communicated in the necessary format to all relevant stakeholder groups. To own production implementation - systems, paperwork, codes, recipe set up (internal and customer)

Key responsibilities

• Management of the NPD Process ensuring right first-time product launches.
• Ensure successful team talent development and cascading of functional communications.
• Organise & record successful factory upscales, including product testing & evaluation.
• Validations of process, packaging & ingredients versus spec or standard
• Successful co-ordination of packaging development both with internal & external colleagues
• Drive & support continuous process Improvements along with site departments.

Qualifications

• Food science degree & process
• development experience
• Previous experience in the Food Manufacturing Industry desirable
• Numerical ability to record, interpret & analyse key process data
• Understanding of Food Safety & Quality Management systems

Skills

• Able to lead a team 
• Previous supervision experience desirable
• Able to adhere to strict timelines
• Ability to identify & actively plan improvements
• Project management skills: demonstrate flexibility & adaptability
• Highly organized multi-tasker
• Attention to detail with structured approach
• Computer literate, inc. MS Office tools
• Displays tenacity. Goes that extra mile to achieve results and deliver excellent service
• Able to play a key role as a high performing team
• Excellent communication skills
• Enthusiastic team leader
• Build relationships internally and externally