Overview
Senior Development Chef (6 months FTC) – Middlesbrough. 6 month fixed-term contract with potential for permanency. Regular travel to Milton Keynes site may be required (up to 4 times per month). Working hours: Monday – Friday, 8am-4pm. Location: Middlesbrough. Salary: £35,000 - £40,000 per annum.
Join The Compleat Food Group’s NPD Team. We’re a food business built on purpose and passion, forming in 2021, with a mission to create Food to Feel Good. Our brands include Wall’s Pastry, Pork Farms, Wrights, The Real Yorkshire Pudding Co., unearthed, Vadasz, Squeaky Bean, Palace Culture, Harvey & Brockless, and more. We’re also a leading supplier of own-label pastry, bakery, party food, olives and antipasti, egg products, meats, dips and sauces, and plant-based food to UK retailers and foodservice. With over 6,000 colleagues across 17 sites and an annual turnover of £1.3bn, we aim to shape the future of food for the better. We are backed by PAI Partners.
Job purpose is to work closely with the wider NPD and Category teams to support development and innovation plans at a multi-site level, focusing on NPD/EPD across the chilled fried snack category, developing products, samples, costings, and collaborating with procurement and the culinary team to deliver profitable growth.
Key Duties, Responsibilities & Accountabilities
* Deliver the business strategy and customer category plans as directed by the Development Chef/Development Controller/Manager.
* Support in the sites concept NPD/EPD agenda to required cost and within agreed timescales.
* Engage actively with customer briefs and deliver innovative concepts that are profitable and meet market requirements.
* Drive food values for site and wider business through visual and verbal communication and displays.
Customer Brief / Customer Presentations
* Interpret varying customer briefs to deliver innovative concepts that meet product style, QUID, key attributes, legislation, customer guidelines and brand values.
* Collaborate with NPD managers to interpret briefs and allocate work between chef and technologist.
* Present concepts to site teams and lead senior management presentations when required.
* Work with purchasing to source new ingredients, prices, minimum order quantities and raw material specifications; provide costings information to finance; interpret and adjust costings for commercial viability.
* Gather information for customer presentations (theoretical nutrition, photographs, benchmarks, product descriptions) for internal and external presentations.
* Present products confidently to customers and support NPD Managers & Development Manager at presentations/meetings.
* Discuss current and future products confidently and display products effectively.
Documentation
* Recipe builds on Point 74 Recipe Professor system or site finance recipe build documents.
* Lead and support site feasibility sessions with expert guidance.
* Manage workload with site kitchen planner and communicate workload to the wider business and culinary function.
* Interpret theoretical nutritional results against guidelines and respond as appropriate.
* Complete relevant benchmarking documentation and present for food shows/shops visited.
Development Initiatives
* Support continuous improvements, identify cost savings to reduce production costs, and drive new ideas and ingredient potential for cost savings and efficiency.
* Support value engineering of ingredients, packaging, and processes; liaise with suppliers for process and ingredient improvements.
* Play a key role in driving site and wider group innovation and challenge factory processes.
Market & Trend Insight
* Identify new trends and maintain current products to deliver newness to the category; understand the market and benchmark against competitors.
* Involve blue-sky activity with customers and suppliers; review competitive market reports and conduct benchmarking panels as required.
* Identify newness through directional shopping for all sites; stay updated on launches and competitors.
Communication & Team Working
* Communicate effectively with various teams; participate in project meetings and panels.
* Maintain clear written and verbal communication with teams; work as part of a team and across sites as needed.
* Work alongside development technologists and chefs; be flexible to support across the team and sites.
Health, Safety & General
* Follow all H&S requirements during kitchen and process development; promote safe working across site and report unsafe practices.
* May require time at other sites for projects; perform general office duties; support customer visits and promote strong food values.
* Continually stay ahead on innovation and market trends; support benchmarking panels; may support development chefs in the kitchen; may cover weekends and night shifts.
Knowledge, Skills & Experience
Experience: Experience in a food development chef role (preferred); strong food experience background; restaurant experience preferred (Rosette+); catering college qualification (not essential).
Key Skills: Strong cookery skills with flair for innovation; valid driving licence; organisation/planning; communication at different seniority levels; presentation skills; basic computing; team player but able to work independently.
Qualities: A passion for food; enthusiasm to learn and grow; hard-working and driven.
Why Join Us?
We offer a range of benefits designed to support lifestyle, wellbeing and career growth across Financial & Lifestyle Benefits, Health & Wellbeing, Career Growth & Development, and Community & Culture. See details below for examples of benefits such as salary sacrifice schemes, annual leave, discounts, wellbeing resources, learning platforms, mentoring, volunteering days, and more.
Note: The Compleat Food Group is committed to fairness, equity, inclusivity and respect and is an equal opportunity employer. We provide the support needed to succeed. We welcome questions about Diversity & Inclusion or accessibility during the application process.
Application
Recruitment Agencies: We operate a small Preferred Supplier List. We do not acknowledge speculative CVs or unsolicited candidate introductions. CVs should be submitted only for roles released by our Talent Acquisition team. For inquiries, contact recruitment@compleatfood.com.
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