NPD

Innovation & Concept Design Lead (NPD Front-End Focus)

Are you a visionary thinker with a passion for pets, nutrition, and cutting-edge product design? We''re looking for an Innovation & Concept Design Lead (NPD) in pet food and treats - translating insights and trends into the next generation of products for dogs, cats, and small animals.

This is a unique opportunity to combine creativity, science, and strategy - shaping a pipeline of concepts that keep us at the forefront of pet health and wellbeing.

• Front-End Innovation: Spot market gaps, consumer needs, and whitespace opportunities through research, trend analysis, and competitor scanning.

• Concept Development: Design and present compelling product concepts (briefs, prototypes, samples) that are nutritionally aligned and market-ready.

• Ingredient & Format Innovation: Explore and validate novel ingredients (functional, sustainable, alternative proteins) and formats (extruded, baked, semi-moist, artisanal).

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Marketing, NPD, Commercial, and Technical teams to bring ideas to life - from ideation through to scale-up.

• Supplier Engagement: Build relationships with ingredient suppliers and technology partners to source innovative solutions.

• Governance & Process: Own the stage-gate process from idea generation to handover, ensuring projects are feasible, compliant, and aligned with strategic goals.

• Future Technology: Identify and champion emerging technologies that keep us ahead of the curve in pet food innovation.

• 3+ years'' experience in product development or innovation (pet food or FMCG preferred).

• Strong grasp of regulations (FEDIAF, DEFRA, EU feed regulations).

• Creative thinker with concept storytelling and visualisation skills.

• Experience with semi-moist, baked, extruded, or multi-format technologies.

• Excellent project management and stakeholder engagement skills.

• Passion for pets and advancing pet health through nutrition.

Desirable:

• Degree in Food Science, Animal Nutrition, NPD< Product Design or related.

• Supplier or contract manufacturer experience.

• Knowledge of sustainability certifications (MSC, MarinTrust).

• Familiarity with premium/prescription or functional pet products.

For futher information, please contact Luan at MorePeople on (phone number removed)