Senior Food Developer in City of Westminster

We’re Pret: proud makers of freshly made food, organic coffee, and big ideas. Across 750+ shops and 20+ countries, our teams are shaping the future of Pret through innovation, inclusion, great customer service and a shared passion for doing the right thing. We’re growing fast on our mission to be the employer of choice in hospitality, everywhere we operate – so this is an exciting time to hop on board.

We Believe in Growing Good Things

Growth is at the heart of everything we do. From the freshly hand-made food we create every day, to supporting our teams, we help our people grow in confidence, skills and to pursue their unique paths. Pret is where passionate, hardworking, wonderful people (like you!) find what they need to shine. And the proof is in the pudding – over 80% of our Managers started on the shop floor! So did 20% of our Support Centre teams, including our CEO, Pano.

What we’re looking for

We’re looking for passionate team players to bring joy to our customers every day. As a senior food developer you’ll be responsible for putting Pret at the top of the innovators list! You’ll be responsible for the identification and exploration of new and emerging food trends, translating them from scratch into concepts in our development kitchen, and then taking them through our development process to successful product launches. You’ll know the launch process like the back of your hand, and have the ability to come up with 100 concept ideas for any new brief coming your way.

Key responsibilities

• Be responsible for taking ranges of products through gated development process, taking ideas through concept development to delivery of a viable range that can then be scaled up, developed and launched into the business. These recipes must be first and foremost delicious, however it is critical they can be made easily in shops, taking into account all operational issues, launch time frames and commercial guidelines.
• Be responsible for identifying new ingredients, recipes or categories that fit within the Pret brand to support the constant stream of innovation required to retain our position as an innovation leader.
• Have strong relationships with current and prospective suppliers, to not only ensure the quality of our ingredients is always maintained, but to bring forward new ideas and concepts.
• As a senior member of the food team, you will support other food developers with their projects, with opportunities for line management.
• Have strong collaboration and networking skills to build relationships across the business and externally, working closely with technical, commercial, launch, range and marketing teams.
• Be responsible for completing all Pret systems with relevant information regarding products to ensure shop facing material is clear for seamless execution of the product in shops. This includes recipes costings, finished product creation and creating how to cards for our shops to follow.
• Along with the rest of the development team, they collectively need ensure that the Development Kitchen is kept clean, tidy and efficient, managing all of their stock is stored correctly and rotated / disposed of when necessary and labelled clearly.
• Finally, along with the other developers, this person is responsible for the promotion and celebration of Pret’s food culture and innovation strengths, finding ways to bring Pret food passion across the business by creating and delivering food led events, showcases and inductions with Pret teams, partners and shareholders.

Experience and Skills required

• A true innovator: pushing the boundaries of food and emerging trends, with the ability to translate these into products.
• Excellent attention to detail: to make perfect products, which are set up accurately.
• Product Development process experience: ability to manage multiple critical paths and a gated process.
• Resilient & agile: we move quickly to capture trends, the ability to react at pace is key.
• Happy in the kitchen: we love to test all our wild ideas in the development kitchen, so you must be happy to get stuck in make lots of recipes!

About you

• Be kind, honest and generous: bring genuine warmth and your authentic self to work every day.
• Bring your passion: share our passion for food and exceptional customer service.
• Spread joy every day: small acts of kindness are a big part of what makes the Pret experience special.

We offer

• £60,000 - £70,000, with a bonus potential of up to 20%.
• Gold Card: We love making people’s day through our food and drinks. That goes for our teams too. That’s why everyone gets a Gold Card. When you’re in the office, your food and drinks are on us. And when you’re not, you can use your Gold Card to get up to 5 Barista-made drinks a day, and 50% off everything else (food, snacks, bottled drinks – the lot).

A few more perks

• You’ll get 33 days of annual leave (including flexible Bank Holidays), increasing to 38 days the longer you’re with us.
• Free private medical cover, with the option to add family or partner at an additional cost.
• 4% of your pension contribution matched by Pret, rises to 5% after 5 years.
• Life assurance at 3x annual salary.
• Loyalty award for 5, 10, 15, 20 years’ service.
• Flexible Benefits Platform packed with lifestyle discounts.
• Season ticket loans.
• Healthcare cash plan.
• Financial wellbeing provisions.
• Free mortgage services.
• Sabbatical after 3 years.
• Opportunities to support our charity, The Pret Foundation.

We also offer

• Individual ways to grow - We offer lots of opportunities for learning, whether you join us for a short stint or the long game, you’re good to grow with us. Including fully funded professional qualifications, leadership development and mentoring.
• Diversity and belonging - Everyone is welcome at Pret, we want you to feel confident and valued for who you are and to truly belong.
• Pace and variety - Our work is fast paced with lots of variety, you’ll build a diverse skill set and learn a lot!
• Community and purpose - We’re proud to make a difference through The Pret Foundation, from tackling homelessness to reducing food waste and creating positive change for people and communities.

Our values

• Happy Teams Happy Customers
• Amazing Standards Every day
• Never Standing Still
• Doing The Right Thing

The interview journey

Every interview process at Pret begins with the same two stages. First, you’ll have a relaxed 30-minute conversation with our recruitment team so we can get to know you and your experience. Next, you’ll be invited to a one-hour, in-person interview with the hiring manager at our Head Office in London Victoria. Depending on the role and function, there may be additional stages. These could include time spent in one of our shops, completing a task, or meeting a senior leader.

Before you apply

This role is based at Pret’s Support Centre in London Victoria, where our development kitchen is based too. You’ll often find us in the kitchen cooking up something magic! We are typically in the office 3-4 days per week. We’d love to get to know you, not a robot, so please do not rely on AI to complete your application.