Technical & Development Technologist

Technical and Development Technologist

This full-time position is office based in Knutsford, Cheshire.

Salary – negotiable. 

The Company

Delamere is an Award-Winning, privately owned food & drinks business which continues to experience an exciting period of growth and is keen to expand its portfolio with new and existing products and customers. 

We are looking to strengthen our Technical and Development team and are now seeking a passionate and talented Technical & Development Technologist to help us launch new products and manage their safety, legality, and quality once in supply.

What will you be doing? 

In this fast-paced and hands-on role, you’ll be driving projects from concept to launch in line with the company’s business strategies to deliver an exciting new range of products. Working closely with the whole business, you will support the direction of the range in terms of product, quality, and technical requirements to ensure you deliver on customer expectations.

You will collaborate with, sales, operations, and marketing teams. You will own projects to ensure launches are clearly understood by all and actively problem solve to ensure key timings are met where needed. Working closely with key partners and suppliers is key, guaranteeing updates are relayed swiftly and in line with critical path timings. Your work will support branded and private label accounts.

You will be responsible for: 

• Owning assigned development projects, establishing key milestones, and engaging cross functionally internally and externally to ensure successful launches.

• Supporting cross-departmental activity in relation to Technical & Development functions to promote a food safety and quality culture. The completion and maintenance of finished product specifications, ensuring they are generated in approved formats for all customers, including retailer-based specification systems, within agreed timescales and complying with customer requirements and relevant legislation. Research, understand, and advise the business on labelling requirements for other regions worldwide as required, ensuring products comply with current and future UK legislation. 

• Support new and existing suppliers and customers in gaining and maintaining compliance with customer codes of practice understanding raw material and packaging nuances. 
• Build and grow strong relationships with suppliers and co-packers.

You will

• Love the food industry and want to be a key part of our broad, dynamic business. Ideally, be degree qualified or equivalent in a food science-related discipline with 5+ years’ experience. Know UK food legislation and labelling and ideally have experience working with UK retailers. Be conscientious and diligent, with good attention to detail, accuracy, and the ability to meet deadlines.     Be flexible with the ability to multi-task, work well under pressure, and actively problem-solve.

• Have excellent communication skills. Be customer and supplier facing representing Delamere professionally in and outside the business, UK and internationally.
• Understand technical systems, including HACCP and BRC, and ideally, UK retailer policies and ways of working.

• Be competent in Microsoft Word/Excel and customer-specific IT platforms. Have a fun, can-do attitude, be personable and care about the role and success of our team and business. 

The Person

You have a real passion for food and can demonstrate a track record of managing multiple, complex projects to tight deadlines and budgets. This is a multidisciplinary role in a small and passionate team. You will have a broad understanding of technical and development activities.

This role would suit an existing Technical or NPD technologist/project lead looking for that step up in responsibility.

You must be happy to roll your sleeves up and get stuck in, have excellent presentation, and project management skills, and have first-class communication skills as you’ll be working with internal teams to drive projects forward.

So, if you are looking for a new challenge where you can develop your food career with a growing business, then apply now.