Product Development Manager
Pilgrim's Europe · Bodmin
Our estimate of how close this job is to decisions about what protein a business sources, specifies, buys and serves. How we score
Why this role matters
How close this job is to real sourcing and menu decisions.
Pilgrim's Europe makes some of the UK's most recognisable meat-based products, spanning fresh pork, lamb and chicken through to ready meals and snacking ranges. As Product Development Manager you would lead NPD and EPD projects from concept to launch, and the advert states explicitly that products must meet "welfare expectations" alongside allergen and legislative standards, meaning welfare criteria pass across your desk as part of the sign-off process for new and reformulated products. You would also be positioned to push reformulation toward lower-meat variants within existing ranges, since you own the recipe, costing and launch decisions for the categories you work on. This is where a food business's standards for its suppliers and its products become concrete: what gets specified, what gets costed and what gets launched. Over several years in a seat like this, you build the technical product literacy, customer relationships and commercial fluency that opens doors into more senior product and category roles, the kind of seats where reformulation and sourcing decisions carry more weight across a wider portfolio, shaping supply chains and what ends up on shelves.
Where this role can take you
What this job teaches you, and the jobs it can lead to.
What you'd build
- Product costing and commercial viability assessment
- Concept-to-Launch gate process management
- Cross-functional stakeholder management with customers
- Supply chain knowledge across ingredients and packaging
Where it can lead
- Senior Product Development Manager
- Head of Product & Process Development
- Category Manager
Senior product and category roles hold wider authority over which recipes, specifications and welfare or sustainability commitments actually make it into launched meat and food products.
About the role
Pilgrim's Europe is recruiting a Product Development Manager for its Bodmin site, sitting within the Product & Innovation department and reporting to the Head of Product & Process Development or a Senior/Product & Process Manager. The role leads New Product Development (NPD) and Existing Product Development (EPD) activity across key customer accounts, working with Product & Innovation, Process, Culinary, Commercial and Site teams to take products from concept through to launch while meeting customer expectations, commercial targets, and regulatory requirements. Core responsibilities span four areas. In product development and innovation, the postholder leads customer-focused NPD and EPD projects, identifies commercially viable innovation opportunities with customer and internal teams, supports ideation sessions and long-term innovation projects, drives continuous improvement, and ensures products meet customer codes of practice, legislative requirements, allergen standards, sustainability commitments and welfare expectations, while tracking emerging food, market and consumer trends. In project management, they manage multiple projects and critical paths concurrently, lead products through the Concept-to-Launch gate process, maintain product information and recipes in relevant systems, coordinate cross-functional teams, and report to customers, internal stakeholders and senior leadership. On commercial and strategic delivery, they contribute to customer growth plans and joint business objectives, support product costing and commercial viability, balance innovation against quality and operational feasibility, and deliver against Product & Innovation KPIs including NPD revenue and project conversion targets. In leadership and team development, they coach and support team members, run one-to-ones and performance discussions, assist with workload and resource planning, and promote best-practice ways of working. Essential requirements include proven experience in a Product Development role within food manufacturing, a track record of launching food products from concept to market, product costing experience and commercial awareness, understanding of budgeting processes, supply chain knowledge including ingredient and packaging sourcing, strong project management and organisational skills, excellent communication and stakeholder management, strong analytical skills, and proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint. Desirable criteria include relevant product category experience, experience working with geographically dispersed teams, and a degree in Food Science, Marketing, Business or a related discipline. A relevant food industry qualification and/or equivalent industry experience is also sought. The role is permanent, full-time, based in Bodmin. Pilgrim's Europe operates brands including Fridge Raiders, Rollover, Denny, Richmond, Oakhouse and Moy Park, and produces own-label products across fresh pork, lamb and chicken, ready meals, snacking, and food service ranges. Benefits listed include competitive salary, competitive holiday entitlement, pension contribution, family friendly policies, learning and development opportunities, and life assurance.
We added this one ourselves, from the employer's own advert.
Key terms to include in your CV and cover letter
What this employer is asking for, in their words. Applications are often screened by software looking for exact phrases, so if these describe your experience, use their wording.
- New Product Development
- Existing Product Development
- product costing
- commercial awareness
- budgeting processes
- supply chain knowledge
- ingredient sourcing
- packaging sourcing
- project management
- stakeholder management
- cross-functional collaboration
- concept-to-launch process
- food manufacturing experience
- team coaching and development
- workload planning
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft PowerPoint
How to position yourself
The language that works with hiring managers for this kind of job.
Position your interest around commercial delivery: NPD revenue targets, customer growth plans, and product costing are the language this business runs on, so frame any welfare or sustainability angle as risk management or customer requirement compliance rather than a values statement. Building visible fluency in the Concept-to-Launch gate process, product costing, and cross-functional stakeholder management will strengthen your case, and familiarity with food category dynamics (meat, ready meals, snacking) will help you speak credibly about the categories you'd own.
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