About the role
Ready to shape the future of food? At Waitrose & Partners, we don't just sell products, we craft food experiences. We are relentlessly focused on being the UK's most loved, trusted, and innovative own brand, setting the industry standard for Quality and Sustainability. We are looking for a visionary Product Developer to drive the creation of high-quality, differentiated ‘Own Brand’ products. This role is the commercial heart of development, demanding you balance culinary creativity with strategic retail reality.
- Salary - £62,000- £90,000 per annum based on skill and experience
- Contract type - This is a temporary / secondment position until July 2027
- Working pattern/flexible working - 35 hours per week. The Partnership has adopted a hybrid working approach, meaning you'll be able to work a mixture between the office and home based upon your personal needs whilst balancing the needs of the business.
- Location - Bracknell Head Office 3 days per week, with supplier visits required as and when.
- Interviews - for this role we are looking for interviews to be held end of June/ Early July
The Category the successful candidate will look after will be Meat poultry, fish dairy and eggs.
Key responsibilities
- Develops and delivers new & improved innovative, quality focussed and differentiated products, aligned to Own brand values whilst understanding and managing the commercial implications of development in the grocery environment.
- Builds, strengthens and owns the NPD relationships between Waitrose and suppliers within the projects being worked on. Ambassador of Own Brand values.
- You will work closely with the cross functional category teams in Waitrose trading, external suppliers, Customer Insight, Chef & Innovation, Own Brand & NPD programme teams, Technical & Quality, Packaging, Design & Repro, Legal, Compliance & Policy, Nutrition & Agriculture, & PR, depending on projects & according to RACI.
Essential skills/experience you’ll need
- A passion for product.
- Previous product development experience within Manufacturing or Retail.
- Experience in launching major NPD/Brand projects.
- Proven track record of high quality, commercially successful product development & supplier management. Strong creative skills in food, grocery, Horti.
- Good analysis skills and capable of analysing sales & insight data.
Important points to note
It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third‑party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.
We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications, and therefore, we recommend you apply early. If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application please contact us as soon as possible.
We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.
