Product Development Technologist

Our mission is to provide happiness with every bite to all our consumers. To us that means happiness for people every day, in what they eat and what they do.

Our Story

The pladis story began when the families of McVitie’s, GODIVA and Ulker each started making the sweet and savoury treats they would later become famous for. The founders of these companies shared a secret; they knew how to create products that people loved. And this grew their brands into icons with large portfolios of sweet and savoury treats.

In 2016, Yildiz Holding embarked on a remarkable journey to transform its consumer food businesses and built a new global industry leader combining the businesses of Ulker and United Biscuits: and so pladis was born, combining hundreds of years family brand heritage. Named after the ‘Pleiades’ constellation, a group of stars visible from anywhere on earth, pladis retains the values and beliefs of the entrepreneurs that built its brands; honesty, integrity, passion.

At heart, we are a family business, and we retain the honesty, integrity and trust instilled in our brands by their pioneering founders through our traits and behaviours

Our culture is unique – we have a large global footprint with the heart and soul of a start-up company. It’s this culture that distinguishes us from our competitors. We’re not afraid to try new things, to experiment and strive for the impossible. Sometimes we make mistakes (we’re human!) – and we use this to learn and push ourselves forward.

That’s just who we are.

Why join our team?

pladis works in highly competitive, fast moving markets where it is crucial to maintain and extend market share through profitable branded growth. It also has a results-oriented growth plan for emerging markets where offering the right value proposition is critical.

Innovation through product development, continuous value improvement and consumer perceived quality superiority v competition are critical and key to delivering the business targets.

You’ll find pladis a phenomenal place to work. Everyone who works here is a member of the pladis global family. We pride ourselves on giving everyone the chance to succeed, and we value each individual’s contribution.

What will this role achieve?

The Product Development Technologist role is both proactive, taking opportunities to develop concepts to fit with brand strategies and reactive to technical briefs from the marketing teams.

What will be your key deliverables?

• Manage and be responsible for all technical aspects of a small design project (typically a flavour variant).

• Develop product options to meet a marketing brief (meeting time, prime cost and quality critera)

• Plan, execute and review product development trials. These can be at any scale, from bench work to full scale factory trials.

• Present samples to marketing and translate feedback into recipe and/or process developments

• Producing draft product costs for comparative purposes

• Estimate costs of development work and track product development trials budgets against target, reviewing with line manager as appropriate.

• Support project manager and/or PDM in effective scheduling of project tasks and identification of resource requirements (time, money, people)

• Raise any technical or project related issues that might affect quality, cost or time of delivery with PDM

• Keep comprehensive records of all work carried out and report results as appropriate, following the standards and procedures of the design team.

• Brief and liaise with suppliers in line with SMT = R&D/Procurement strategies

• Complete and review Technical checklists and follow trial protocol within the npd process and plan appropriate interactions with key functions and stakeholders

• Complete product and ingredient specifications as appropriate

• Contribute to idea generation sessions and proactively generate branded product concepts in line with innovation strategies

• Work with colleagues to ensure that product development facilities are maintained to a safe and hygienic standard and operate using lean principles.

• Ensure that personal development plans are created, kept current and actioned as appropriate

Want to help us bring happiness to the world? Want to join an ambitious and fast growing global biscuits and confectionery business investing heavily in iconic global brands, infrastructure and people? Then this is the place for you.

As proud bakers and chocolatiers and custodians of iconic global brands, we don’t compromise on the quality of ingredients in our products or on the people we hire. We are looking for entrepreneurial spirits who share our passion for bringing happiness to our consumers and who embody our Winning Traits.

To succeed at pladis you need to be purpose-led, resilient and positive to succeed here because we expect pace and agility, we insist on collaboration and demand accountability. If that is your thing, then pladis offers global ambition, a clear Vision and roadmap for success, challenge, and unrivalled opportunities to learn and make an impact, University degree level qualification in Food Science/Technology

Proven experience of key manufacturing processes (snack, cake or biscuit), including process constraints is needed, as is a current validated understanding of ingredients, creative recipe development and bench scale techniques

Proven record of trial planning, execution and review

Confident in effectively delegating tasks to technicians, direct or indirect reports such that they are clear on the task, timings and quality standards required

Courage to challenge and confident to prioritise, and know when to ask for help in a timely manner

Proven experience of product development in the ambient snack industry

Creative approaches to problem solving

Food presentation skills

Driven with outstanding decision-making skills

Basic understanding of health & safety requirements

Strong understanding of food legislation

Strong influencing and communication skills in English

Desirable

Understanding of Lean principles/Lean Sigma

Experience in a similar role in another blue-chip FMCG company

Knowledge of regional pladis brands, business, key competitors and key markets

Project management experience, including a good understanding of the roles and responsibilities of project team members

Understanding brand essence and key performance indicators

SAP requisitioning experience

If you can speak Turkish or Dutch at a business level this would be advantageous