New Product Development Advisor
Morrisons · Foulridge, Colne
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.
This role sits inside Morrisons' product development process for chilled products, the stage where a new range is costed, benchmarked and signed off before it reaches shelves. The advert doesn't specify which chilled categories you'd work on, but ranges like this commonly include meat, dairy, ready meals and other animal-derived products, so being inside this process builds real fluency in how a major retailer decides what gets made and sold, and at what cost and standard. On its own this seat doesn't yet hold a lever over sourcing standards - there's no mention of supplier criteria here - but it is a genuine foothold inside a national retailer's product development machinery, and that's exactly the kind of operational credibility that opens doors into category or technical roles with more direct standing over specifications later, where decisions about what gets stocked and to what standard are actually made.
Where this role can take you
What this job teaches you, and the jobs it can lead to.
What you'd build
- New product development process
- Category data analysis and benchmarking
- Cross-functional stakeholder collaboration
- Commercial pricing and margin management
- Food manufacturing operations exposure
Where it can lead
- NPD Specialist
- NPD Manager
- Category Manager
These roles typically hold more direct say over which products and suppliers are approved, including whether sourcing standards or protein-mix criteria are built into category and sourcing decisions.
About the role
Morrisons is hiring a New Product Development Advisor to support product development activity across the categories within its chilled range, based mainly at the Greenside manufacturing site with occasional travel to the Bradford head office and other sites or suppliers. The role sits within the Concept to Launch Process, supporting both Existing Product Development (EPD) and New Product Development (NPD) workstreams end to end, working alongside the NPD Specialist and Manager to deliver the Site Product Development Plan. Responsibilities include analysing category data from trusted sources to identify opportunities for Morrisons, running regular benchmarking sessions to ensure products meet best-in-class targets, attending customer research listening groups and debriefs, working closely with the operations team on chilled product quality, and collaborating with technical experts to safeguard range quality for customers. The role also carries commercial responsibility for ensuring products are profitably priced and meet margin expectations, and that pricing and samples presented to customers are correct and prepared on time. The advert asks for a passion for food, attention to detail, ideally knowledge of the chilled market and experience within the food development process, strong relationship-building and stakeholder influencing skills, and commercial judgement with enthusiasm to deliver results. It is a permanent, full-time (40 hours per week, Monday to Friday, flexible) position at the Wharton Bridge site in Winsford, with occasional weekend work expected during peak season. Benefits include a generous holiday entitlement, staff discounts, a subsidised canteen, free parking, pension and life assurance, healthcare and wellbeing support, and family-friendly leave policies. The closing date is stated as 3 November 2026.
This is an extract. Read the full advert on the employer's site.
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
- concept to launch process
- category analysis
- benchmarking
- margin management
- pricing strategy
- stakeholder engagement
- cross-functional collaboration
- food development process
- chilled category knowledge
- commercial judgement
- customer research
- relationship building
- quality assurance collaboration
How to position yourself
The language that works with hiring managers for this kind of job.
Frame your interest around commercial delivery: concept-to-launch process discipline, category benchmarking against competitors, and ensuring products are profitably priced within margin targets. Emphasise any experience with category data analysis, stakeholder collaboration across technical and operations teams, and an eye for market trends in food development - these are the credentials Morrisons is asking for directly.
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