Food Product Manager in London

The Company

In 2006 Little Dish was the first brand to launch a range of fresh, healthy meals for toddlers and young children, offering a truly nutritious, just like homemade solution for busy mums. Little Dish has defined and built a new category. The range sets the standard in children’s nutrition: all recipes are developed with the UK’s leading baby & child nutritionist and made using only 100% natural ingredients with no added salt or sugar. Little Dish award-winning meals are sold nationally in all major UK retailers. The chilled meals range has been relaunched and expanded with a new manufacturing partner, utilising their patented technology to improve product quality whilst also allowing the move into more sustainable packaging. Following the success of the relaunch, it paved the way into the frozen category, with NPD being a key contributor to the phenomenal business growth.

To support Little Dish on their journey, they need a bright, motivated and pragmatic NPD individual who is looking to develop their career in food in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment at an exciting time of growth. This is a hybrid role with 3 days at their London HQ and visits to their manufacturing partner.

The Role

This is a wide-ranging and rewarding role at the heart of the company’s mission to deliver delicious and nutritious food for their loyal customers. You’ll lead exciting NPD and EPD projects from concept through to supermarket shelf – developing new ideas, trialling them with manufacturers, and ensuring they meet the highest standards of quality, nutrition and care. From managing critical paths and factory trials to refining packaging solutions, co-ordinating tastings, retailer brand days, Tiny Taster panels - no two days will be the same. You’ll also play a vital role in shaping the future of the brand’s existing product range – making sure every product is tasty and nourishing. This includes analysing sales performance with the Commercial team and identifying opportunities for improvement or innovation. You'll run regular benchmarking, evaluate customer feedback, and work closely with manufacturing partners to drive continuous improvement across current products. You’ll make sure that the products are the best they can be, from a technical and regulatory integrity perspective, as well as commercial viability and market impact.

The Candidate

This is a great role for a bright and engaging foodie, educated to degree level (ideally Food Science or related) with a real passion for nutrition. You could be an NPD or Senior NPD or Process Technologist looking for a step up in your career within a supportive business who recognise and nurture potential. Your experience could be from food manufacturing or from a branded food business within a product development role, with a strong understanding of technical processes and superb project management skills. You’ll be highly organised, detail orientated, commercially aware and comfortable juggling multiple priorities in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment. Your excellent communication and influencing skills, along with your ability to work with everyone from suppliers and manufacturers to internal teams will ensure the smooth running of your NPD / EPD projects. If you’re a foodie who loves structure, driving projects, into the detail with eyes on every aspect of your product, then shape your career with a food brand that is making a real difference within their category.

If this sounds like an opportunity too good to miss, then apply or call Georgina.

Blue Spark Organisation have partnered with Little Dish and any third party, recruiter or direct applications will be managed by the Blue Spark Organisation Team. Due to the large number of applications our opportunities attract, it sometimes takes us time to thoroughly review and consider them all. We endeavour to respond to every application within 5 working days, however if you have not heard from us within this timeframe, we are sorry to say your application for the role has not been successful. To support you in showcasing your best self, we make sure that any necessary accommodations, whether physical or non-physical, are provided to assist you throughout the job application and interview process. Also, please note that we are only able to accept and respond to applications from candidates with eligibility to work in the UK and those who hold valid work visas.