New Product Development Manager

New Product Development Manager

Co. Wicklow | €70,000-€75,000 DOE | Mon–Fri | No Weekends

This is a senior, high-impact position within one of Ireland’s most respected and forward-thinking food manufacturers. As New Product Development Manager, you’ll sit at the heart of innovation in a large, fast-moving food operation. You’ll lead complex, high-profile projects from early concept through to full commercial launch, working closely with customers, commercial teams, chefs, and senior site leadership.

If you thrive on turning ideas into products at scale, enjoy the pace of factory trials and launches, and want your work to have real commercial impact, this role offers autonomy, visibility, and influence in equal measure.

Package & benefits

• Salary, €70,000-€75,000, depending on experience
• Competitive annual leave
• Pension contribution
• Life assurance
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Employee wellbeing initiatives
• On-site parking
• Clear long-term career development opportunities

Why this role stands out

• Senior leadership exposure in a highly invested NPD environment
• End-to-end ownership of major innovation and NPI projects
• No weekends, Monday to Friday working pattern
• Strong pipeline of customer-led and proactive innovation
• A business genuinely investing in people, capability, and growth

What you’ll be responsible for

• Leading a broad portfolio of NPD projects from concept through to successful launch
• Partnering with senior stakeholders, development chefs, site teams, and customer-facing functions to deliver commercially viable innovation
• Owning and driving a structured stage-gate development process across all projects
• Facilitating internal and customer-facing innovation sessions, staying ahead of market and consumer trends
• Building and managing robust critical paths to keep projects moving at pace
• Leading, coaching, and developing a high-performing NPD team
• Creating forward-looking innovation roadmaps aligned to customer needs, trends, and site capability
• Managing NPD budgets and contributing to wider end-to-end customer projects
• Acting as a key technical and innovation point of contact for commercial and customer-facing teams

What we’re looking for

• Food-related degree and experience in a Senior Product Development role within the food industry
• Proven delivery of successful NPD projects in a structured, stage-gate environment within a prepared consumer foods, chilled foods, ready meals or meat products environment
• Strong product costing experience and familiarity with recipe management systems
• Hands-on experience running factory trials through to full commercial launch
• Confident people leader, able to inspire a team while owning a senior project portfolio
• Strong project management, organisational, and stakeholder engagement skills
• High level of IT proficiency, particularly Excel, Word, and PowerPoint
• A genuine passion for food, ingredients, and innovation
• Full, clean driving licence

Why apply now?

This is a rare opportunity to step into a visible, senior NPD leadership role where your ideas will shape future product ranges and your leadership will directly influence business performance. With significant investment in innovation and growth, this is an ideal move for someone ready to make the next big step in their NPD career.