Product Development Manager - NPD - Food - Ready Meals - Own Brand

Own label (Own brand) new product development is key to our business strategy, driving quality, innovation and newness for our Asda customer to enjoy. You'll see yourself leading from the front, driving category development and taking responsibility for implementing the Trading and Brand strategy.

You'll ensure that the category delivers against their quality benchmark; that Innovation and newness is landed across your category and that Quality is maintained along with the necessary legal requirements in terms of labelling are met. You will also make sure that your suppliers comply with the Asda policies throughout the product development process.

The Ins and Outs:

As a Product Development Manager you be responsible for maintaining product Quality for our customers, drive innovation and product development across Ready Meals to deliver both newness and incremental sales. You will ensure adherence to the product launch critical path, drive category product reviews and customer focused briefs alongside our trading teams.

From food sourcing plans to PR events and product launches, you will be focused on quality, product specification, labelling, nutrition, legislation and cost. You will champion your category, participate in wider project work cross functionally and/or individually; and deliver in line with the broader business objectives.

Key responsibilities include:

• Agree and implement the Quality plans within specific product areas in line with the category/trading strategy.
• Propose individual targets and implement the plans for benchmarking, customer complaint management, and consistency within product area. Develop products and support projects that adhere to Asda's technical and nutritional, legislative policies.
• Accountable for ensuring suppliers within product category meet Asda policies and deliver products against the agreed specifications and measuring supplier performance. Responsible for actioning quality withdrawals for lines that do not meet the set standards across your specific category.
• Accountable for ensuring the legal label on product specifications are accurate and maintained on the specification system adhering to the required timings.
• Accountable for ensuring the Food Sourcing Plan for Own label is implemented and that all product managers within the team, are on board to deliver.
• Conduct reviews of the market; attend trade shows, comp shops, trends workshops.
• Engage trading/buying teams behind own brand plan delivery and ensure delivery of agreed Iconic heroes for overall product team and own area
• Support internal/External PR of own brand - through presentation to key stakeholders at events both within Asda and with external bodies
• Accountable for delivering cost savings across specific product area using the tools to monitor, measure and support the delivery of the wider category plan.
• Review post launch sales performance of activity through the 4,8,12 week review.

What you'll need:

Ideally with previous experience as a Technical Manager, Senior Development Technologist or Product Development Manager, within either a retail or manufacturing food NPD department, you will have successfully developed new products from concept through to launch.

With strong people and project management skills, you will be passionate about the world of food, be a real 'foodie', and be able to influence and engage wider teams and senior stakeholders.

Your will draw on your background in Food Science, Nutrition, Food technology and/or Quality to create the right plans for delivery; which flex to the changing needs of the business and support our Market Leading Value Proposition and Every Day Low Cost initiatives.