Junior NPD Technician (12M FTC) | THG Manufacturing

We are looking for an ambitious, hands-on Junior NPD Technician to join our fast-growing New Product Development team, reporting directly into the Senior NPD Project Manager.

In this dynamic, high-exposure role, you will sit at the intersection of technical formulation, laboratory bench work, cross-functional project delivery, and direct customer interaction. You will work closely with external brand partners from initial concept briefs through to pilot trials and commercial production scale-up across our powder, bar, tablet, and fruit preparation facilities. This role is ideal for an aspiring food scientist or product developer looking to accelerate their technical career in a high-speed, multi-format contract manufacturing environment.

Key Responsibilities

Product Formulation & Hands-On Laboratory Bench Work

• Bench Work at THG Omega: Conduct hands-on bench formulation, recipe development, and prototype sampling in our modern laboratory at the Warrington Omega facility.
• Gold Standard Development: Create and refine physical "Gold Standard" samples that match client sensory profiles, nutritional parameters, and target shelf-life requirements.
• Costing Formulations: Develop recipe iterations and preliminary formulations to support commercial teams in costing new customer business opportunities accurately.
• Supplier Flavour & Ingredient Work: Liaise directly with flavour houses and raw material suppliers, evaluating novel flavour systems, functional actives, and alternative ingredients through sensory evaluation and bench screening.

Customer Interaction & Commercial Engagement

• Client Briefing & Scoping: Participate in initial customer meets and discovery calls to capture technical briefs, nutritional targets, dietary constraints, and target cost-of-goods (COGs).
• Site Visits & Tours: Host and support customer visits across our production facilities, showcasing THG Manufacturing's technical and operational capabilities.
• Site Engagement: Act as an early-stage bridge between new customers and our manufacturing site teams, ensuring clear alignment on operational feasibility and batch run expectations.
• Packaging & Samples Approval: Coordinate sample dispatch to customers, collate technical feedback, and ensure final primary and secondary packaging specifications are aligned and approved.

Factory Scale-Up & Technical Governance

• First Production Hosting: Lead and host "first production" plant runs on the factory floor, monitoring critical control parameters, line performance, and product consistency against laboratory bench benchmarks.
• Technical Requirements Alignment: Ensure customer-specific technical, processing, and microbiological standards are fully understood and agreed upon with site Quality, Hygiene, and Operations teams.
• Raw Material Onboarding via SQA: Collaborate with the Supplier Quality Assurance (SQA) department to onboard and validate new raw materials, ensuring full regulatory and allergen compliance.
• Bill of Materials (BOM) Management: Accurately configure and manage product BOMs, including switching and adapting formulations between UK and US site manufacturing requirements.

Systems, Data Management & Project Coordination

• Project Setup & Monday.com: Set up new NPD projects and track stage-gate milestones through Monday.com, maintaining real-time visibility on progress and deliverables.
• Internal NPD Systems (ANDI & Opal): Keep proprietary product lifecycle and recipe management systems (ANDI and Opal) updated with approved formulations, ingredient specs, and test data.
• ERP Setup (Sage): Create and configure finished product codes, and recipe masters in Sage to enable commercial ordering and production planning.
• Cross-Functional Communication: Attend and actively contribute to weekly cross-functional project meetings and internal stakeholder alignment sessions with Commercial, Quality, Operations, and Planning.

Skills and Experience

Essential Requirements

• Educational Background: Degree or HND/equivalent in Food Science, Food Technology, Nutrition, Chemical Sciences, or a closely related discipline (or equivalent practical experience).
• Bench & Lab Competence: Hands-on experience or academic training in recipe formulation, kitchen/bench prototyping, sensory evaluation, and laboratory hygiene standards.
• Project & Organization Skills: Strong organizational skills with experience managing multiple development briefs simultaneously and meeting tight deadlines.
• Systems & IT Fluency: Proficiency in Microsoft Office (particularly Excel); willingness and aptitude to master project management tools (Monday.com) and recipe/ERP systems (ANDI, Opal, Sage).
• Communication & Confidence: Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the confidence to speak with clients, present prototypes, and liaise with site production teams.

Desirable Attributes

• Prior experience or placement year within an FMCG food, beverage, sports nutrition, or supplement manufacturing environment.
• Familiarity with contract manufacturing (co-man) or private-label product launches.
• Understanding of BRCGS standards, HACCP, allergen segregation, and UK/US nutritional labeling differences.

Working Pattern & Office Locations

Collaboration and close proximity to our manufacturing plants are essential to our operational velocity. This role follows an on-site model:

• 4 Days per week: THG Omega Campus, Warrington (flagship operational & manufacturing campus)
• 1 Day per week: Icon 1, Manchester Airport (THG Global Headquarters)

Benefits

Career Development

• Access bespoke development programmes that have been designed and developed by our in-house L&D team.
• Continued development through our upskilling programme that is delivered in partnership with an industry-leading training provider.

Enhanced Leave

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Don’t want to work on your birthday? We don’t either! Enjoy your day off on us!
• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay, depending on length of service.
• Up to 10 days compassionate leave.
• Buy back up to 3 days each year.
• Unlock 2 days volunteer leave after 12-months.

Wellbeing Support

• Access face-to-face and virtual appointments with our in-house GP (Icon).
• Access to our subsidised on-site dentist (Icon).
• Access our 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) which is provided by Bupa.
• State-of-the-art on-site gym (Icon).
• Access to our on-site physio (Icon).

Other Perks

• Save up to 12% on the cost of personal tech through our salary sacrifice scheme.
• Subsidised bus pass from Manchester City Centre to our ICON office.
• Up to 50% staff discount on THG brands.
• On-site staff shop.
• Refer a friend and get up to £1000 when they pass their probation.
• Anniversary gifts when you hit 5 and 10 years of service.