R&D Specialist

Business Area: R&D - Nestle Production Technology Centre

Location: York

Salary: Circa £40,000, depending on experience and qualifications

Some of our other fantastic benefits:

• Potential, discretionary annual bonus
• Generous pension scheme– up to 12% contribution from Nestle
• 12 flexible days on top of 25-day holiday entitlement

Although this is a full‑time opportunity, please speak to us about what flexibility means to you as we are always open to discuss individual's flexible working.

We have an excellent opportunity for an experienced R&D Specialist to join our chocolate innovation team at our offices in York, with a strong focus on Chocolate & Biscuit programmes. This is a broad and hands‑on role that will see you work with many different markets and stakeholders to develop and deliver world‑class innovations across our global Confectionery factories.

NPTC Confectionery York is Nestlé’s leading centre for Confectionery Research & Development, working in partnership with three development centres in Chile, China and Ivory Coast. In York, we are a team of around 170 people from over 30 nationalities and a wide range of academic backgrounds. We have a strong focus on inclusion and belonging, an active wellness programme, and we support around 50 factories globally.

Objective is to provide ideas, technical innovation and scientific support (for product, process and technology) to continually improve and grow the confectionery business. We take pride in championing inclusion and diversity. We proudly signed the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter, are committed to Disability Confidence, and have been recognised as a Times Top 50 Employer for gender equality for three consecutive years. Additionally, we are a headline partner of Diversity and Inclusion in grocery.

Your impact:

Working on a range of diverse global projects, you will contribute to the development, innovation and renovation of products, processes and systems from early concept through to industrialisation and launch. You will play a key role within project teams, delivering high‑quality technical outputs and building strong partnerships across R&D, factories and functions.

You will:

• Deliver defined technical work packages within projects, ensuring activities and outputs align with global and local R&D processes.
• Proactively identify technical risks within your scope and support the development of mitigation plans.
• Provide strong technical and scientific input across innovation and renovation projects, applying your expertise to solve problems and support informed decision‑making.
• Act as a technical contributor and workstream lead where appropriate, working closely with the Project Manager and key stakeholders at CTAG and factory level.
• Plan and support laboratory, pilot kitchen, pilot plant and industrial trials, contributing to scale‑up from lab to pilot and factory, with guidance from more senior specialists.
• Support factories during industrialisation and start‑up, including trial follow‑up and launch support, helping to resolve issues and drive technical improvements.
• Contribute to concept development and front‑end innovation activities, working with colleagues in Consumer Insight, Science & Technology and with our suppliers to help generate and assess new product ideas.
• Develop understanding of category trends, consumer needs and competitor products, using this knowledge to inform technical choices and project discussions.
• Build and share technical knowledge, documenting learnings and contributing to team best practices and capability building within NPTC.

Your ingredients for success:

To be successful in this role, you will already have solid experience in an R&D confectionery or bakery environment, or in an operational role closely linked to product development. You will be curious, proactive and delivery‑focused, with a strong interest in flavour, texture and consumer experience, and a desire to grow your technical capability within Nestlé Confectionery globally.

You’ll also:

• Demonstrate good hands‑on product development experience and sound technical knowledge in confectionery, bakery, biscuit or wafer technology.
• Show understanding of flavour development and optimisation, with particular appreciation of iconic and sensitive flavour profiles and how flavour interacts with process, matrix and ingredients.
• Apply foundational knowledge of biscuit and wafer science, including structure, texture, baking, shelf‑life and interface with chocolate or floured components.
• Understand your role as a technical contributor within projects, working in close partnership with Project Managers and key R&D, CTAG and factory stakeholders.
• Demonstrate effective problem‑solving skills, supporting identification of technical risks and contributing to practical mitigation during development and scale‑up.
• Have experience using analytical, statistical and sensory tools to guide product development decisions, interpret results and support project discussions.
• Show an innovative and learning mindset, with the ability to assess new ingredients, technologies and processes, and to collaborate across Science, Consumer Insight and supplier teams to explore new ideas.
• Hold a degree (or higher) in Food Science, Chemistry or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.

In return we will support your development for a global career with exceptional opportunities within a high performing, innovative and supportive culture. Some UK and international travel may be required, estimated at 5‑10%.

What you need to know:

We will be considering candidates as they apply and we will occasionally close job advertisements early in the event we receive sufficient applicants, so please don’t delay in submitting your application. At Nestlé, our values are rooted in respect and we believe that embracing diversity and fostering an inclusive environment allows everyone to reach their full potential and drives innovative thinking. We strongly encourage applications from individuals of all gender identities, ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities, parents, carers and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Please let us know if we can provide accommodations to ensure your full participation in the application process.